The Syndicate
by BoltLightning
Summary: A/U Cowboy Bebop crossover. In Harry's fifth year, he is contacted by a mysterious organization. A year later, he comes back with a new look, a new name, and a new attitude.. H/HR
1. Death

The Syndicate  
  
By: BoltLightning (previously dragonstorm)  
  
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling created the original Harry Potter and its characters.  
  
Synopsis: In Harry's fifth year, he is contacted by a mysterious organization. He disappears and comes back a year later with a new look and a new name. A lot happens in the span of time that he is gone, and both Dumbledore and Voldemort each think that the other has Harry secretly hidden away. Harry disappears and neither side realizes that the enemy does not hold him. The wizarding world lives on without it's hero, and most think that he is off somewhere training. If only Dumbledore or Voldemort realized how close to the truth the common people really were.  
  
Chapter 1-Death  
  
It was a bright and sunny day in the town of Little Surrey. Harry Potter sat alone in his room at Number Four Privet Drive. It had been only a week ago since he had arrived home for the summer from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and yet, the week seemed to be one of the worst ones in his life. Dumbledore, thinking that he was doing Harry a favor, had sent the Dursleys a letter by owl that told them about Voldemort's resurrection and how Harry was and would be number one on the snake's hit list until he was finally killed. The Dursley's ran far away from Privet Drive shortly after Vernon had brought him home from Kings Cross train station; they were probably somewhere in South America right now on "vacation". They had left Harry alone in the house, which would have normally been a blessing if it weren't for the fact that he had no way to contact his friends. Hedwig was going to stay with Hermione over the summer (he was afraid that Uncle Vernon would kill her if she didn't keep quiet), and his two best friends were told not to call him on the phone or send him any owls for fear that his location would be given away.  
  
Harry became as bored as one can get. The TV was broken so that it stayed on one channel and there are only so many times that you can watch I Love Lucy before you begin to lose your mind. This was slowly driving him over the edge, but the real kicker was the nightmares that he had been having. He hadn't had a decent nights sleep since the night of the third task, and he kept on seeing deaths so gruesome that he had to force himself to eat. This was when he came to his decision, one that would change his life forever, and hopefully for the better.  
  
'Harry Potter is weak.' He thought to himself as he sat with his head on the kitchen table. 'As long as I hold the name of Harry Potter I will be weak because of it. I can't go on like this. All of this pressure and the fact that I am being babied by the whole world are finally catching up to me. There has to be a way to get out. I know I will run away. Yeah, I'll just run away. I can't stay in this world any longer, so if that means that I will have to go to the muggle world to have the freedom that everyone else takes for granted, then so be it. I will need a new name for myself. Yes, yes, a new name, yes.'  
  
Harry came up with a name that no one would ever think of him to possess, Vicious. He took some of the things in his uncle's house and pawned them off. After all, he was supposed to be a no good trouble-making wizard. A new wardrobe was now his, and it suited his name. Most of the clothes were black and silver, plus they held that dark appearance. He went to a muggle tattoo artist and had a large silver lightning bolt tattooed over the lightning bolt scar that went down the middle of his forehead. This almost completely hid it from view, unless one was to look very close at it. He wore his disguise to Diagon Alley, got some money out of his vault, and bought a potion that permanently made his hair silver and tamable, which he then proceeded to cut it short and have it spiked. His glasses were another fault that Harry Potter had, so he went to a magic eye doctor's office and had them permanently corrected so that he could see.  
  
Vicious bought many different advanced magical books, and even made a trip down Knockturn Alley to acquire something that would hide his magical signature. It was highly illegal to own one of these, but he had to buy it so that he would not be found and the black muggle trench coat that he wore covered it up nicely, since it wrapped around the top of his bicep. With a pair of silver shades to complete the ensemble, he was a menacing sight indeed. Of course, he was still skinny, but his look frightened many.  
  
Vicious couldn't help but laugh at the simpletons and the way that they parted so that he could walk through them. That is, until he noticed some stranger staring at him intently.  
  
This stranger was dressed all in black, and blended well with the shadows. When Vicious walked past him on his way back out of Knockturn Alley, the man spoke to him in a whisper.  
  
"It is not common to see another like myself. Evading the life of a commoner and wanting to become something better. With some training, you could become a powerful and ferocious force indeed. I invite you to join the Syndicate. It can be found in no book, but it will help you get what you want. You don't want fame you want power. We can help. Here is our card. I will tell you one other thing, we are neither good nor are we evil. We are killers, we are hunters, we are protectors. We don't want to take over the world; we want to mold it how we see fit. Tonight, at seven o'clock exactly, hold the card and say, "I'm in." Have all your things ready, for you will not return to the life that you used to hold."  
  
With that said, the man disapperated without the customary popping sound. It was silent. Interesting indeed.  
  
'Well,' Harry/Vicious thought to himself, 'I was planning on leaving this world anyway. Harry Potter is dead. . . for now. . . .' 


	2. Rising

Harry Potter disappeared from Privet Drive that day, never to return to his hated 'home' again. At least they would not miss him. Shortly after his disappearance, the Dursley's decided to move so that if that freak returned to that house one day, he would find another family inhabiting it. Hermione and Ron tried to have a relationship that year while they worried about their friend, but they found that without Harry there would have never even been a friendship between them because they were too different. The world missed Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, all except for the Slytherins and Minister Fudge. Fudge, being the dumb jackass that he was, actually refused all stories about the Dark Lord and even went so far as to put out an arrest warrant for the hero whom he thought suffered from serious mental problems.  
  
Vicious, in the mean time, took advantage of his absence from Great Britain. He missed a few people, but realized that he would not and could not return until he had the power to defeat the snake and his army in a single blow. He had accepted the offer of the Syndicate, and found out that it was started by a person that magical history had forgotten, Merlin's brother. The Order of the Phoenix, which was currently lead by Albus Dumbledore, was created by the fool Merlin. The world believed that Merlin was an awesome and a powerful wizard, but they didn't know that he was just like that fool Lockhart and took credit for things that he did not do. He was pampered by his parents, unlike Mylin (Merlin's brother), and never worked a day in his life. Mylin let Merlin take credits for his actions, and never was mentioned in the old texts unless you were reading between the lines. In the journal of Merlin, if one knew what to look for, they would find a riddle that didn't make sense, but if you took out letters from the words in the order of the name Mylin (for example: M=13 so if you took out the first and the third letter a new word was formed), you discovered that his riddle said: Power beyond Power will be yours if you choose to seek it, but self-centeredness leads to the grave.  
  
These words of wisdom greatly spoke to Vicious. Power must be earned, it could not be granted. It didn't matter if you knew someone who was famous, for true fame belonged to those that history had forgotten. The group of sixteen warriors (as they were only sixteen in the Syndicate) would influence history. Each of them hailed from a different magical community, and even though they had performed great deeds before, noone knew what they had done. Well, everyone knew what Harry did, but that was because of a fluke. Vicious wanted to earn his power, and thus he would train in extreme environments and weathers for one year.  
  
For the first month, he trained with the man that brought him here, invited him to join. There were very few of them, and they only allowed people that they thought had promise, which was very rare. The man was from America, and his name was Spike. Spike taught Vicious (A/N: I will not call Harry by his real name until the time is right in this story) everything that he knew. Martial Arts, Apperation, and Sword fighting were the main focuses of this. He had agreed to teach the young man for a month, and was surprised by the power and determination that this boy wielded.  
  
After that, he lived on a volcanic island in a remote part of the world. Since the volcano was still active, wizards and muggles tended to avoid it. Harry stayed here and pushed his body beyond human bounds. He had taken to wearing two thousand pound weights on both of his arms and his legs. Vicious was also wearing the shackles that were used to contain magical prisoners in the dark ages. The spells were placed on the same bands that were magicked to weigh him down. These shackles were designed to hold a person's magical energy. One was enough for any wizard to never be able to do magic again, until a password was said to release the shackle, yet he wore four and could do simple spells.  
  
Vicious started out wearing only one of these, and worked up until he could do the most complicated spells, then added another. Also, when he was looking at the flames of the volcano one day, he pondered on whether or not he could make them rise. That was when he noticed something weird. You may be thinking right now that the flames would do his bidding, but it wasn't the flames that answered his call. It was the shadows.  
  
A few days after that, Vicious decided that it was time to move on to the frigid environment of the arctic. After arriving , he began to train his power over shadows. It was slow at first, as no gift comes easily, and this one Harry had to work extremely hard for. There were such things as people that could control water and fire, but noone, and I mean noone, could ever do wandless magic. It was all a fluke. If a persons temper got out of hand, that was when strange things would happen. After months of training he found, quite alarmingly, that they would do whatever he wanted, even kill.  
  
Vicious needed food, every human needs food to survive. On the volcano island, there had been a lot of fruit and fish, but there didn't seem to be very much here. Once a month he would disguise himself then go and buy very, VERY advanced spell books. He could not afford to waste his money. While in hiding, he would tend to catch his own food and only used money as a last resort. Not that he didn't have the money, he had become quite rich when he found gold near the volcano, but he saved the bulk of this money so that if he ever needed it to escape, etc., he could use it and wouldn't have to worry. He was out hunting one day when a polar bear decided to have a little snack, him! Vicious used his power over shadows to a deadly degree. The shadows went down the bears neck, and exploded out of him, making the figure burst. The shadows disappeared, leaving scattered blood and chunks on the once pure white snow, never to be pure again.  
  
Vicious had applied for a teaching position at Hogwarts, and was surprised that they had so readily accepted. He strapped two Japanese style swords on his back in a criss cross fashion, and shrunk his belongings, placing them in his pocket. He had changed a lot over the past year, and didn't look overly muscular, plus he had had a black lightning bolt cross the silver one, forming an X, in case anyone got suspicious. He was ready to leave the cave, his self inflicted exile, at last. He was ready to return home. Hogwarts.  
  
I said that this story would be a cross between Harry Potter and Cowboy Bebop, a very interesting and hard thing to do. You see, in a way it is a cross, but Harry will not be going into space until the next story, nor will the Syndicate be anything more than sixteen strong for right now. But, things will change....  
  
Thanks to all of the reviewers. 


	3. Shopping

The Syndicate  
  
By: BoltLightning  
  
Disclaimer: Same as the one that I have typed before.  
  
Thanks to all of the reviewers out there who have looked at my story and felt the urge to review. Sorry to be putting out this chapter so late. I'm trying to take my mind off of things that are going on right now. My girlfriend's grand mother is in the emergency room for some reason or another that I don't know where (it doesn't help that I live forty five minutes away from her granny's and thirty minutes away from her) and I will have to start work again soon. Damn it, I miss those days when all I had to do was nothing and could lay around happily during the summer. No such luck here. Got my grades back. C's in Physics and Physics Lab, B in English 102, and I think that I got an A in Programming class. Enough of this pointless rambling, on with the story.................................................oh, I will try to post more often and I will slow down the story and take it into more detail. The year that Harry was gone was pretty much a year that was spent in hell.  
  
CHAPTER 3 - NO MORE TITLES!  
  
Hogwarts this year was going to be very boring. Fred and George, even though they liked to joke around a lot, passed their N.E.W.T.S with decent scores and had graduated, having started a joke shop with an incredible amount of money. Plus, Harry Potter, my best friend and the person that I figured out that I loved, has disappeared off of the face of the earth. These were the thoughts that were running through one Hermione Granger's mind as she shopped in Diagon Alley along with the Weasleys. Her and Ginny had remained friends (this was whom she was walking around with, as Ron was too busy at his brothers joke shop and at Quality Quidditch Supplies), but her friendship with Ron was on the rocks. They had absolutely nothing in common besides Harry, which was discovered while they dated, and had not been that close since he suddenly disappeared.  
  
Nobody had even noticed that he had vanished until he didn't show up on the Hogwarts Express or at the school itself. Dumbledore personally went to the house to find that it looked like that it hadn't been lived in for months. After tracking down the Dursley's, he discovered his mistake. He should never have told them about what was going on in the wizarding world since they had abandoned Harry Potter and left him there to fend for himself. He was outraged to say the least, but that still didn't help him to find Harry. His main idea was that he was kidnapped by Voldemort, because he knew that if he was killed then there would have been a Dark Mark above his house.  
  
The wizarding world had been on high alert since that day, and some idiots actually believed the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, that Harry was really a delusional kid and that maybe it was him behind all of this. Anyway, back to where we were before in the story. Hermione was walking down Diagon Alley with Ginny. The young red headed girl had her own friends that she wanted to go with, but then again she was also friends with Hermione and didn't want to leave her here alone, especially with the threat of death eaters looming above their heads like a beacon. The Weasley's and the Grangers were very high up on Voldemorts hit list due to their association with Albus Dumbledore and the missing Boy - Who - Lived. Currently, the pair of teenage witches could be found in Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore.  
  
Hermione Granger, always the over aspiring bookworm, loved it in the bookstore and it was her favorite place to be in the wizarding world and in the muggle world.  
  
"Come on Hermione, can we please go to some other shop now! We've been here for nearly an hour!" Ginny pleaded. She knew that the bushy haired girl liked books more than she did people, but this was just taking it way too far.  
  
"In a little bit...." she replied, not even looking up from 1111 Ways to Ace the N.E.W.T.S.  
  
"Come on, you can read that later. You don't even have your N.E.W.T.S until next year."  
  
"Well, it never hurts to study early. You should already be studying for your O.W.L.S."  
  
"I will, and if you want to buy the book just buy it so we can GET OUT OF THIS STORE!!" She screamed the last part, and Hermione finally looked up from the book, placed it with the others, purchased the book and left the store.  
  
"So, where do you want to go now miss I - Like - to - Scream - All - of - the - Time?"  
  
"Well, I guess that we could go to Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor. I know that, with your parents being dentists and all, you probably didn't get very much candy at your house."  
  
"You're right. I could really go for some strawberry ice cream. It's been forever since I've had something sweet."  
  
After getting their ice creams, they went outside to find a seat so that they could set and enjoy the beautiful weather. School would be starting back in a couple of days, and they couldn't wait. Last year they had been unable to find a teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, and they wondered if the headmaster had been able to find another one instead of substituting himself. The young man couldn't teach and be the headmaster of the school at the same time, and with Voldemort back that was not a good thing. That class was greatly needed during these times, but Dumbledore had his hands full with the resistance anyway.  
  
"Where are we going to sit Hermione? All of the tables have people at them."  
  
Before Hermione could answer, they heard someone at the table behind them. "You can sat here if you want. I promise that I don't bite."  
  
This chapter isn't as long as I would have wanted it to be, but I wanted it to be put out this weekend. Peace, out............ 


	4. Introductions

Ginny Weasley didn't have very many friends in the world. Some of them, such as the bookworm Hermione Granger, she wondered how she had ever become friends with in the first place. This was probably due to her family's association with Harry Potter, otherwise known as the boy who lived. He was a celebrity, and thus good friends were hard to find when there was a psycho on the loose who would do anything that he could to catch the boy.  
  
Speaking of Harry Potter, she regretted not getting to know him better. For four years she goggled over him, not really getting to get to know him personally and only caring that he was a celebrity. She didn't love him; she had already found herself a boyfriend. Neville Longbottom, even though he is a bit of a klutz, was a really nice person when you see past all of the accidents that he caused because he was so nervous of failing.  
  
Today was the day that she and her family traveled to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the next term. They didn't have too much money, as her family was not the kind that would sell their soul to the Devil for wealth, and she had to get almost everything that she owned second handed. That was why she had had an infatuation with Harry up until he vanished, she wandered what it would be like for her to actually be able to get things that weren't hand me downs or second rate. But, alas, she had found true love in someone that she could share her feelings with and confide in. Neville had always been there for her, and he would continue to be there for her. Actually, it was after her third year and before the disappearance of someone who had gotten so close to her family that he could be considered one of them, only missing the red hair, that her and Longbottom started dating. At first, the twins and Ron were against it, but after a severe berating by Mrs. Weasley which ended up with them scrubbing the house from top to bottom with toothbrushes and no magic, they finally decided to give in as long as the boy didn't hurt her feelings. After they got away from the bookstore and went to the ice cream parlor, that's when things got interesting.  
  
"You can set here if you want. I promise I don't bite."  
  
The girls turned around and saw someone that they knew that they had never seen before yet had the feeling they had known for a long time. He wore black jeans, t-shirt, and he was wearing a black muggle trench coat. With silver hair and shades, he looked like he would stick out like a sore thumb and yet nobody seemed to even notice that he was there.  
  
Both of them sat down at the table and Hermione Granger, being the nosy person as she is (no offense but she can be at times), began to ask the stranger questions.  
  
"Are you going to Hogwarts this year?" She began, knowing full well that some of the schools of magic were planning on sending students this year.  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"Oh, what school did you go to? You don't sound like you have that much of a British accent."  
  
"I went to one in America." He had lied to the school there and told them that he was home schooled, went and took the O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S when he was with Spike, and passed them with flying colors. It didn't really help that at the time he cheated, but he knew the information now and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?  
  
" What was it like there? I've always wanted to go to the States but I never got the chance."  
  
"Well, I guess that it was nice. I don't really know for sure, as I have never actually been to another school." Vicious was starting to get good at lying. He had thought up a cover story for a while now.  
  
"Well..." Hermione sounded a little dejected.  
  
"How rude of us!" Ginny exclaimed a minute later. "You don't even know our names. My name is Ginny Weasley and my inquisitive friend here is Hermione Granger."  
  
"It's nice to meet you. My name is Vicious Bromista."  
  
"Your name is Vicious? That's a wicked name." Hermione said. She couldn't help but feel attracted to this man and yet she really didn't know that much about him.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with my name. I have a foul temper for those that I don't consider friends and, as my name implies, I'm a bit Vicious..."  
  
"Well, what do we have here? It's a Weasel and a Mudblood." Came a sneering voice behind them. "Who's your new friend? Trying to make up for loosing Potter. Well, that traitors going to get his soon enough when the Dark Lord gets a hold of him. He"  
  
"Voldemort" Vicious said, interrupting the blond boy's ranting.  
  
Malfoy and his cronies stood there with gaping mouths for several seconds, as were Hermione and Ginny. "I see you have no fear of saying his name, but you will pay for"  
  
"I will pay for nothing. One day, he will die and when he does I will be one of the ones that spits on his carcass and says good riddance to a peace of trash."  
  
"Insolence! He will kill you!"  
  
"Go ahead." That silenced anything that anyone was going to say. "Let him kill me. If I die, I die. So why not speak my mind while I'm alive. Now, you and your goons leave before I loose my patience with you pieces of wizard trash."  
  
Malfoy signaled his two goons to attack him. During Vicious' speech, he never once looked up or around to see Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle moved forward as fast as they could go, getting ready to pound the man into the ground. Vicious tilted his head a little to the side and had a bemused smile on his face. All hell was about to break loose.  
  
"Hello." Said a friendly and jovial voice behind Malfoy and his thugs. Malfoy turned around and began another scathing remark at whoever dared to interrupt his torture of the friends of Harry Potter, the wanted criminal.  
  
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He said before he realized that the man was none other than Dumbledore himself.  
  
"Language, Mr. Malfoy, language. Is everything going all right here?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye, keeping his face impassive but his eyes deceived him. Instead of the normal twinkle they were a bit cold and hard.  
  
"Everything is fine. We were just having a nice little chat with Granger, Weasley, and the transfer student. Come on Crabbe, Goyle, we have more impotent business to attend to." And with that, Malfoy stalked off; a little mad because he didn't have the pleasure of seeing the silver-haired fellow's face pounded in. It would have to wait for another time, when there weren't any professors around.  
  
"Do you mind if I sit here?" The headmaster asked them.  
  
"No, no, we don't mind professor." Hermione said as her face lit up with respect and awe at the venerable wizard.  
  
"Why did you have to interrupt? I was that close to pounding those good for nothing death eaters into the ground." Vicious said and made the gesture with his hand that he had been very close to doing just that.  
  
"I couldn't let you do that. You know that you would get in trouble and I'm positive that is not something that you wanted to happen. Of course, they are related to Death Eaters, but give them a break; they might turn out different." The wise old wizard said as he relaxed a bit in his chair, enjoying the relative shade the umbrella above them created. It was a hot day, and he was getting old.  
  
"That is very unlikely and you know it. Malfoy was raised by one of the worst of the Death Eaters, having been given the hatred that goes along with the job by his father. Crabbe and Goyle, though I don't see how they ever got to be fifth years in the first place, haven't a brain between them and the only thing that they would ever be good at is using their strength, which Voldemort will make use of." Vicious said this, sounding as though he was talking about the weather. The others (with the exception of Albus Dumbledore) hadn't even thought of these two possibilities, and here he was, handing it to them on a silver platter and acting as if he had said nothing.  
  
"You are very perceptive, and yes, that is exactly what I believe will happen." After Dumbledore said this, a silence broke out over the group. The girls hadn't even touched their ice cream before then and just noticed it before it turned into milk. Finally, having finished eating the cold concoction, Hermione asked a question that she had been wondering about for a little while. "Professor, why are you here, if you don't mind my asking?"  
  
"No, I don't mind at all Ms. Granger. The Magical Menagerie contacted me a little while ago and told me fabulous news. They have had a phoenix there for ages. Only, the difference between this one and the other one is that this is an ice phoenix. Where most phoenixes are red and gold, this one is a clear sky blue and looks like it is made of many crystals. The way that the sun shines off of it and through it makes it a really beautiful creature to behold. This phoenix, instead of being born surrounded by flame, saw ice first and thus took that appearance, much like a chameleon though once it chooses, it can never change again. I seem to have gotten off track. Anyway, the pet store has had it for years on end since a phoenix has to choose its master. They were just about to give up hope when the phoenix began to sing the bonding song. It is a rare song to be heard, and those that do feel better than they can ever remember for a while after. The man bought the phoenix, paying nearly ten thousand galleons, and left. Right after he walked out, they contacted me and here I am."  
  
"Wow." Ginny muttered to herself. "I would love to see such a creature."  
  
"What did the guy look like? Maybe we could get him to show us his phoenix before he leaves if he hasn't left already." Hermione asked, intrigued about such an odd creature.  
  
"The shopkeeper actually gave me a very good description. She said that the man was dressed weird. He wore a long coat, sunglasses, and had silver hair. He was also dressed completely in black, even though it was such a hot day out."  
  
Almost as soon as he had said this, he and the two witches turned to look at the other occupant sitting at their table. He hadn't interrupted them while they were talking and looked as though he hadn't even heard a word that had been said. Looking up slightly, he noticed that the two girls' jaws were open, as they were obviously flabbergasted, and the old man had a twinkle of merriment in his eye.  
  
"What are you looking at me for?" He asked, keeping his face behind an indifferent mask with practiced ease. Professor Snape had nothing on him.  
  
"Well, that description fits you perfectly Vicious." Albus said as he looked at the man before him.  
  
"It does fit, doesn't it Albus." He said, allowing a fraction of a smile to appear on his face.  
  
"Where is that beautiful phoenix of yours?" Headmaster Dumbledore asked returning the smile.  
  
"Hogwarts." He answered. Dumbledore nodded in assent.  
  
"That's where I thought. It's in your office, I presume?"  
  
"Yes, it is."  
  
"Um, professor Dumbledore sir, um, did you just ask Vicious if the phoenix was in /his/ office?" Ginny mumbled as Hermione nodded mutely, having the same question in mind.  
  
"Oh, I thought since you were sitting at the same table, that you had been introduced properly. This, my dear students, is the new professor of Defense against the Dark Arts." And with that said, Hermione Granger properly fainted. 


	5. Return

Hermione Granger woke several minutes later after receiving a glass full of water in her face. "What did you do that for?" She sputtered to Ginny, who was still holding the cup in her hand and had a large grin plastered on her face. It was then that the young witch decided to take a look at the other occupants of the table. Sitting in one seat was Headmaster Dumbledore, who had a twinkle of mirth in his eyes, and sitting in the other seat was Vicious Bromista ... Bromista ... Professor Bromista! A blush made it's way to her face as she mumbled "I remember now."  
  
Ginny was positively in stitches and she had to grab her side she was laughing so hard. She was a girl, and as any other girl, she had spotted that the new professor was a looker. Hermione had to have spotted this as well, and seemed to have fell in love (or should I say lust) at first site. To make matters worse, she had made a complete ass in front of him by passing out. Oh, the blackmail material that she had now.  
  
"Don't worry Ms. Granger. I do not hold it against you that you called me by my first name. At the time, you had no idea that you were talking to your new professor, so I can hardly blame you. As for that passing out bit, that was totally unnecessary. I would have been shocked if I was in your place, but I don't think that I would go that far." Hermione was sending a death glare at the red head that Dumbledore could have sworn would turn any muggle into ice. This just made her laugh even harder, and she would have fallen out of her seat if she didn't have the sense to grab on to the table. Vicious noticed these peculiar actions as well. Hermione sending him her prettiest smile when they had met, fainting when she had found out that he was going to be her teacher, blushing when she realized what she had did in front of him, and now staring daggers at Ginny; it just didn't add up. He almost believed that Hermione Granger, one of his best friends in the whole world, had the hots for him. But that was impossible, wasn't it?  
  
"Why did you let us go on believing that you were really a transfer student from the states when all along you knew that you were really going to be our new teacher?" Hermione asked as she had finally given up on Ginny, who was starting to calm down at last. "It would have been simpler to have just told us that from the beginning."  
  
"It would have been simpler, wouldn't it? Still, the expression on your face when you found out was priceless. I could have told you from the beginning, but where would be the fun in that?" His voice, which usually did not portray emotion, sounded full of cheer and mischief. If only he wasn't a professor and the headmaster wasn't there, she would have smacked him upside the head. As quickly as she thought this it left again when she saw the gorgeous half smile that shone on his face. She couldn't help but smile too when she got past his mask of indifference. This could very well be an interesting year.  
  
The Burrow was all the hustle and bustle that came with it being the first of September. Fred and George had graduated so they wouldn't be returning, but there were still three people there right now that had to go. With the Dark Lord back no one was safe. There was something about it though that made the Weasley's as jumpy as they could possibly get; everything was quiet, too quiet. Nothing had been heard of the Dark Lord: no attacks on muggles and muggle-born, no infiltration of Hogwarts, and no proof that he had returned. Harry wasn't there to testify, and the Weasley's knew for a fact that if he didn't disappear before he would be soul-less thanks to a Dementor's Kiss. They missed him greatly, but were glad that he wasn't just a shell. Fudge was getting more people to believe every day that Dumbledore was just an old fool and Harry Potter a.k.a. The- Boy-Who-Lived was a demented child as nothing had happened yet. People were falling into a false sense of security that this was just all some sort of fabrication, and they would pay in blood for their foolishness, as Voldemort would use their stupidity against them.  
  
The Hogwarts Express was as beautiful as it had ever been. She looked at the awe filled expressions on the faces of the first years, and couldn't help but remember when she was in their place. After magicing the trunks onto the train, she got back on the platform and exchanged farewells with her family. They rushed onto the train as it began to move, and she waved at them with silent tears running down her face until they were out of sight and had gone around the bend. She would miss them, oh god how she would miss them. They were nearly grown up now and would soon be leaving the house. Wiping the tears off of her face as she turned around to apparate, Mrs. Weasley couldn't help but think that she wasn't too old yet, and that she could still have another baby.  
  
The Weasley's and Hermione made their way to the back of the train to find an empty compartment. Along the way, they ran into some of their friends and eventually Neville joined them. It was weird to see him and Ginny getting along so well, but it was understandable. Hermione and Ron were no longer an item, and Ron was never in a real relationship. He had dated several people during the summer, but each one wasn't the one for him. Either they were to smart, too ditzy, too short, or too tall; he could never be satisfied. Mr. Weasley was beginning to think that his son was becoming a womanizer, but after they had sat down and had a talk, everything was settled. Finally grabbing the last compartment on the train, they had a hard time to stop the flow of memories that came along with it. This was the compartment where they had first met Harry, had sat in this compartment every year since their first year, both the good times and the bad times. Every now and then they wondered where he was at, why he hadn't returned to them, and if he still cared about them.  
  
It was because he cared for them and loved them, that he had left. Even though he had said things like he was weak before he left, he left for them. At the rate that his life was going, there was no way he could have protected them. The best way to protect them was to run and hide, hoping the psycho would leave them alone. They didn't understand this, and probably never would, but when you love someone enough then you will let them go if it is for their own good.  
  
The train ride was going well. That is, until the usual arrival of Draco Malfoy and his goons.  
  
"Potter's not here again this year, is he? Probably lying dead somewhere, thanks to my master. Then again, he was always trash, wasn't he? A piece of shit with a lightning bolt on it." Ron sprang from his seat, only to get held back by the others.  
  
"Or maybe, just maybe, he's still alive. He won't be for long. The Dark Lord always gets what he wants, and he wants Potty dead." The words that he spoke were now hitting close to home. After a year, the - boy - who - lived still had never been seen or heard from.  
  
"Excuse me, what is going on here?" A voice carried in from the door. Everyone turned to see a man in his late teens with silver hair and a black wizards robe. Malfoy gave a smirk thinking that he would finally get to pound him into the ground, and Ginny and Hermione smiled knowing that he was their new teacher, while the others were thoroughly confused.  
  
"Nice to see you again you impudent bastard. I've been looking for you. I still remember what you said in Diagon Alley; don't you remember Crabbe, Goyle?"  
  
"Ummmmm." They both answered in unison. Obviously they were too stupid to comprehend what people were trying to say.  
  
"Just get him you fools." Malfoy sneered.  
  
In seconds both of the boys were laying on the ground, unconscious thinks to a couple of well-aimed Stupefies and Draco was pinned against the wall with the teacher's arm across his throat.  
  
"Let go of me. My father will get you kicked out of the school." Malfoy said with a grin on his face.  
  
"I would like to see the death eater scum try. He holds no affiliation with the school board now; you have me to thank for that. I had him booted off, and if he does try something then he will meet his end, and you will have no daddy to hide behind any more. I know scum like you Mr. Malfoy, who can't even do things for themselves, and I have no respect for either you or your father. One Hundred points from Slytherin for the disrespect and attempted maiming of a teacher. Now get out of here, before I hit you where it hurts."  
  
Malfoys grin quickly turned into a frown and then into a scowl that showed barely suppressed rage. "How dare you talk to me like that? Who do you think that you are to take points away from me? What's this about disrespect and tempted maiming of a teacher? All that you are is a low-life transfer student. When the Malfoys are done with you, you will be nothing. WE will hit YOU where it hurts." Ginny couldn't help it and burst into laughter, with Hermione following her shortly after. "Why are you laughing?" Draco shouted in outrage.  
  
"Ma - Malfoy, this is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bromista." Ginny said and seeing the shocked expressions on the faces of the one's who didn't know decided to continue. "We found out from Professor Dumbledore that day, but didn't say anything. You have just insulted your new teacher." Draco's face now bore an expression of horror.  
  
"I will have a little talk with the headmaster about the Slytherin house. If Snape can't handle his students any better, then I will personally see him stripped of the title of your Head of House." Malfoy actually paled at this. Either way, he was a goner. If Snape was no longer his head of house, then more than likely it would be Bromista and he would make his life torture. If Snape were to be put on parole because of him, then his life would be torture, any way it goes he was going to be in deep. After being set free, the blond haired Slytherin ran out of there as though his life depended on it. Vicious kicked Crabbe and Goyle out into the hallway. Malfoy had made a mistake, one that was even bigger than he had realized, and Vicious knew that Malfoy would never be the same after he was finished with him.  
  
The train ride to the castle was pretty slow after that. He made idle chitchat to the students and eventually Hermione asked the question that had been bothering her ever since he had made his first appearance on the train. "Why are you wearing your sunglasses when it is dark outside?" The others nodded in agreement as they noticed that she was correct.  
  
"I wear my sunglasses because I have an eye condition." He lied swiftly. There really wasn't any eye condition that required him to wear the glasses, but there would be a commotion if he took them off and they recognized his eyes.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Ron noticed as she said this the way that her eyes got a glassy look to them and knew the reason why, she had feelings for him. He would have to talk to her about this later.  
  
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing."  
  
Shortly thereafter it started to downpour. Vicious left the group shortly before they were to reach Hogwarts, saying that he had something that he had to do. Pulling the hood of his cloak up over his head, he made his way to the back of the train and jumped off the express, landing with a cat like grace and began to make his way into the forest beside the train track, the Forbidden Forest.  
  
It was quiet, a little too quiet. The animals in the forest seemed to know that he was on his way and tried to hide not because they thought he was evil, because of the power that he wielded. Animals have the ability to tell if a person was powerful, and this was one of the few that they would never mess with. Aragog felt it as well, and he shuddered. For once the old spider was afraid for his children if they were fool enough to cross this wizard.  
  
Vicious walked into the clearing that he had not visited since his second year. This was the home and the lair of Aragog. Spiders scurried as far back to the walls of the surrounding cliffs that they could to get out of his way, and the decrepit spider was trembling. Whether from his massive size or from fear Vicious would never know.  
  
"What is it that you seek here?" Aragog spoke, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking.  
  
"I have come to deliver a warning. Do not ally yourself with anyone besides me, if not then you will pay the price."  
  
"How dare you come into my home and boss me around. What price would be so great that I would bow down to you?" He was enraged at the gall of this human. Even Dumbledore would never make an offer like this and Aragog knew for a fact that he was not evil, so his threats might be empty.  
  
"The price that you would have to pay would be the death of all of your children, the extinction of your species, and having to watch all of this before I am merciful and kill you as well." Needless to say Aragog followed orders and decided that it would be prudent to just stay out of this war.  
  
Meanwhile, the Hogwarts Express had reached Hogsmeade and the students were hurrying into the horseless carriages to avoid the rain. As they were now alone, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Ginny decided to share one that was close to the front. Several minutes later, they had made their way into the great hall and headed for the Gryffindor table. Ron was the first one to notice, and spoke to the rest of them. "Where's Professor Bromista? He was on the train with us; he should be here by now."  
  
Bromista was absent, and the quartet couldn't figure out where he was exactly. Finally, Neville asked a question that was bothering him ever since he looked over to the Slytherin table during the sorting and noticed that Malfoy looked pleased with something. "You don't think that anything has happened to him, do you? I mean, look at Malfoy. He seems awfully happy about something."  
  
Before anyone could reply to that, Dumbledore began his opening speech "Hello, I would like to welcome you all to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." There was a lot of applause by all of the students but it was cut short as the front doors of the school burst open and in stepped a hooded figure. "All right kids, settle down. I was just about to introduce this young man. He is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Please lower your hood Professor Bromista and join us at the head table." At the mention of his name, there was some scattered applause but the quartet was clapping as though this man was their hero. After walking up to the head table, he lowered his hood and there was a lot of whistling and cat calls from the female gender of those present, but to the male populations disliking. Dumbledore continued his speech about how the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden. Bleh, bleh, bleh, yada, yada, yada.  
  
The students from Gryffindor house couldn't wait for the next day of school as they made their way up to the tower. The boys at first disliked the new teacher, that is until Ron told them what had taken place on the train and they took a liking to him. They could very well have Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they wanted to be rested for what was promising to be an interesting class.  
  
Read and Review  
  
Nick, I have removed your review. I almost forgot about you. I like flames, they feed me, but at least be a little more original. Vicious, a DOG. Since you have never watched Cowboy Bebop then obviously you do not understand his name. Vicious is one of the main characters, and to sum it up is really an evil bastard (I'm a fan of his myself). As for him being a dog, have a look at the original Harry Potter characters. Sirius, come on, that is the name of the dog in mythology isn't it? I mean, there is even a freaking constellation by that name (I read that somewhere). That whole "I'm serious." "My name is Sirius" shit really pisses me off. As for the whole crossover thing, I have more of a life than having it center around Harry Potter so I forgot (I love Harry Potter, but I also have other things to do). Plus the whole "I'm weak" thing came from his state of mind. For gods sake, he saw someone murdered in front of his eyes and had to spend hours upon hours of torture with the I Love Lucy reruns. Finally, the Syndicate didn't recruit him just because of the way that he looked. He had a presence of power, and they realized that he would be great one day. Who's saying that everyone in the Syndicate has been or is good? I never said that and if you have watched the series then you damn well know that is out of the question. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, Nick, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Don't diss someone if you don't even know the material behind it.  
  
Anonymous reviewers, be gone. I don't like to do this but because I will probably get more people like him/her I have decided to only except those that are signed. Hopefully, this will stop crap from piling up in my review section. 


	6. Teaching

Title: The Syndicate  
  
Author: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: No need for one. I don't own this and I never have. I'm just a tool for the greater good.  
  
Notes: I ACCEPT ANONYMOUS REVIEWS!!! There is a reason why this chapter is a bit late. I had to determine where exactly I wanted this story to go. I even managed to produce a plan of the chapters, so that I would have a guideline to follow. That was one of the major problems before. I had so many ideas on what I could do that I had to sift through them to try to make something that was at least half way decent. There will be exactly 26 chapters, which also happens to be the exact number of episodes of Cowboy Bebop, and there also will NOT be a sequel to this story. As much as I want one, I doubt that I have the artistic flair required for something like that. Thanks to those people that are in my yahoo group that actually voted for the poll that I put out a week ago (I think...) and to all of the people who have reviewed my story so far.  
  
Chapter 6 - Teaching  
  
As the students began to make their way to the warmth of their beds, Vicious Bromista made his way over to Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"I need to talk to you Albus." Vicious said as he completely ignored the fact that he was having a hurried conversation with Severus Snape.  
  
"What do you need Vicious?"  
  
"This involves Severus as well, so there is no need for him to leave." Harry spoke as he saw the potions master preparing to go back down to his dungeons. "This concerns his ability to be the head of Slytherin House."  
  
Severus Snape, the resident evil bastard of Hogwarts, could barely suppress his outrage and anger at his position being questioned. "How dare you suggest that I am not equipped to be their head of house?"  
  
"Now, now, Sev. Let the man speak." Dumbledore interjected.  
  
"Thank you headmaster. No doubt you were wondering about why Slytherin house started out in the negative numbers this year and that was what your heated discussion was about?" At seeing the others nod he continued "that was my doing. Young Mr. Malfoy decided that it would be ... entertaining and ... fun to attack me on the train ride up to this school. As you know, attacking a teacher is a serious offense, and I could have tried to have the /poor/ boy expelled for such an act. I am a /very/ reasonable person though, so I deducted one hundred points from his house. I also thank that if you can't handle your PRIZED student any better, that there ought to be a new head of Slytherin House, a BETTER Head of Slytherin House, or that you should at least be put on probation until you learn to better discipline your house."  
  
As he talked, the color drained from Severus face, making him look even gaunter. He realized that what the new professor said was more than likely true, and he had made it clear that Draco Malfoy was his prized student.  
  
"I do believe that you have yourself a very good point. Over the years there have been very many inquiries into his unfair treatment of the Slytherins, which I have overlooked, but as this was a direct attempt to physically harm a teacher I am afraid that I will have to put him on probation. If he can't manage to get a better grip on his own students, then I will be forced to find another Slytherin Head of House. You would be a good candidate." Dumbledore said as he looked at the potion master's face disapprovingly. Vicious bid them a good night before he made his way to his chambers. 'Severus Snape, my evil and biased professor, is now on parole.' Vicious couldn't help but smile as he thought of this. Things just seemed to be getting better and better.  
  
The next day dawned bright and early and the inhabitants of Hogwarts (the human inhabitants which does not include the ghosts and other various creatures there) were to be found in the Great Hall, enjoying a pleasant breakfast. Several students, as well as the professors, couldn't help but notice the empty seat at the Gryffindor table and prayed for the umpteenth time that the - boy - who - lived was safe and sound somewhere instead of lying dead in a gutter. But, the minds of most of the student population of Hogwarts were beginning to sway and believe the lies that the paper spoke instead of trusting someone they had known for years. It was beginning to become common place to hear the students in the hall whispering about the crazy Harry Potter and how he had ran away when he knew that he was going to be arrested for murder. They had yet to realize that the man that they seemed so interested in gossiping about and bad mouthing just happened to be one of their teachers. The power that Vicious had over shadows left him a bit short tempered and he didn't like what they were saying but had the common sense not to say or do anything that showed how much this got on his nerves.  
  
The sixth year Gryffindors made their way out of the great hall and traveled toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Of course, they shared this class with the Slytherins because Dumbledore had the stubborn idea that one day they would get along. That day had yet to rear its ugly head and both of the houses claimed that there would be a snowstorm in hell when that would happen.  
  
Vicious walked into the classroom with a stalk in his step. The Gryffindors were quiet and sitting forward in their seats while the Slytherins seemed to think that they were above this class and the teacher. One particular remark from Draco Malfoy severely pissed off the teacher, whose smile turned into an expression of hatred. "This class is going to be easy. After all, the teacher is a snot nosed brat who can't even do anything. I could defeat him in a dual easily."  
  
"Is that so Mr. Malfoy?" The class quieted down immediately when they heard the venom in his voice. He seemed to be harmless at first but upon hearing his voice the students quickly changed their perceptions about the difficulty of this class. "As I seem to recall you and Misters Crabbe and Goyle saw fit to attempt an attack on me on the train ride here. What happened in that fight? Oh, now I remember; your friends ended up on the floor and you ended up on the wall. You seem to think that you have gotten away from that event scot-free. You are the one that is responsible for Slytherin starting in the negative numbers," Here the Slytherins turned towards Malfoy with looks of hatred while the Gryffindors looked smug, "and I would be careful when you go into your potions class. I doubt that Professor Snape likes you very much at this moment."  
  
Draco began to quiver in fear. The truth was that he had thought that this teacher was all talk and would not act. He was far from the truth however. Now he had his house against him and Snape would probably try to poison him. Today was going to be his worst nightmare for many days to come, of this he was sure. He couldn't help but wonder and pray that Snape was still their head of house. "Is Professor Snape still our head of house?"  
  
"Yes, he is. Although," Vicious was now back to smiling as though nothing had happened which frightened the students even more as they began to doubt his sanity, "I would say that he may not be for long if the Slytherin house does not shape up. You see, like I said yesterday I have had I nice chat with the headmaster and he has seen fit to put Severus Snape on probation. Enough of this conversation; I grow tired of it and I have used up too much time already." Vicious sat down behind his desk and propped his dragon- hide boots on top of it while ignoring the expressions his class bore while learning that thanks to Malfoy the Slytherin Head of House was on probation. One step out of line by any of his students would more than likely result in him losing the position and someone else taking over. This just could not happen!  
  
"Today will just be a day of introductions. That means that you will not be learning any new spells today. I have no need to learn what you have been taught in the last five years because of the O.W.L.S so there will also be no pop quiz today. I," the class had began cheering and he waited a minute before continuing, "I will instead give you some sort of an idea about what we will be learning. Most of it is not in the textbook and therefore there can be no way to teach you through that. Instead, this year I will require you to do physical exercises to stay in shape. Every morning you will run ten laps around the quidditch pitch," here the class began to protest, "and you will run twenty-five in the afternoons. Physical fitness can help you a lot in dueling as well as increase the longevity of your lives. In a dual, it would do you no good if your opponent were to be physically faster than you are because you would never be able to hit them. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I guess that I should. One of the reasons why the N.E.W.T.S are so tough is the practical aspect of it. Instead of just waving your arms around and performing kiddy curses, you will find yourselves in real life situations where these are needed. It will help you in the long run if you prepare yourselves now." Although there were still a couple of grumbling students in the class they all realized that if what he said was true then they could use as much help as they could get.  
  
"Now, on to the important stuff that Professor Dumbledore wants me to teach you. This is something that he has been trying to get through your puny skulls for as long as you have been here, but has yet to succeed. I will attempt to teach you in this lesson that there is no reason for an inter- house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor to even exist. I'm sure," Vicious raised his voice over the loudest of the outraged students, "you have noticed that nearly every class that you have had has been together with each other. This rivalry is a pity because if you looked over that then you would notice that you are all not so different. I'm going to tell you now the real truth that would take you years to piece together out of very many old books. Some of this is speculation, though, and is a less than common theory because of what it entails. Slytherin and Gryffindor really didn't have that much of a problem with each other. In fact, they were the best of friends and would do almost anything that the other man would ask without a moment's hesitation. As you have all heard by now, they built this school in a dangerous time when muggles were trying to kill witches and wizards for being who they were. At first after the school was founded everything was all right. There was a massacre of a village of witches and wizards though that made things change. Muggles had somehow found a village of them and had attacked them at night while they were asleep in their beds. Back then there was no apparition or portkeys so they had no chance to escape. To make matters worse this wasn't just any night this was Christmas." Vicious paused for a moment before continuing.  
  
"They bathed the snow with their blood and burned their houses to the ground. You could hear several babies screaming, as they were burnt alive and smell the burning flesh for miles around. What made this truly heinous was the fact that they did this all believing that they were righteous and they had no remorse. They even cheered and celebrated what they had done. This was a Christmas that none at the time would ever forget and word spread quickly through muggles and magic kind alike. Salazar Slytherin became furious, as this was his hometown. His mom, his sister, his childhood friends and his family had been slaughtered. His two-month-old sister was one of the ones that were burned alive. He could not stand for this and he wanted revenge. Godric Gryffindor didn't share this belief though and he had never lost someone in the massacre. He refused Salazar when he requested that they use the wizards and witches that they had here to attack muggles and he refused to not allow muggle born entrance just because they may turn on them and one day have them all killed. The rift between them grew wider with each passing day and the students could feel the tension. Finally, one day, Salazar decided to put his plan in motion. Luring the students to the Great Hall one day, he performed a mass curse over the students so that he could use them to do his own will and led them away from Hogwarts toward several prominent muggle towns in London. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff just happened to be in one of these towns and were chatting with some muggle friends when the attack began. Salazar Slytherin was ruthless, and was killing every muggle that he saw by burning them alive to avenge his baby sister. Finally after almost all of the townspeople had been killed the other founders managed to subdue Slytherin and carted him and the others back to Hogwarts. Several days later after having finally arrived back at the school they proceeded to throw him out of the school, and Godric told him that should they ever meet again he would kill his friend. Salazar was a little hurt by this, but his rage was consuming so he left and said they WOULD meet again one day. Nothing was ever heard from Salazar Slytherin again."  
  
Most of the students had a hard time believing what they had just heard. Any one of them would have wanted revenge if they had had their families killed like that. This was especially true for those that had siblings when they imagined a defenseless baby being burned to death. It was hard to swallow, but for the first time in all of their years at Hogwarts that they could actually relate to each other. The bell rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch but after hearing such a tale they couldn't bring themselves to eat that much. Dumbledore couldn't help but smile as he watched the sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin classes attempts to eat. He had told Vicious that he had attempted to end the rivalry between them for as long as he had been headmaster here and that he had never succeeded. At least now there was no open hostility, but he had a feeling that the rivalry was not going to end. Oh well, it was just another failed attempt.  
  
Weeks passed by and the sixth years were beginning to get into shape. The other two classes had joined him and now they made their laps together while Professor Bromista was there to oversee them to make sure that they had done them all. Vicious knew that Snape had made his potions classes hell on earth for anyone who had stepped through the door, and the Slytherin house had received many detentions from their head of house for things that they did. This new attitude had actually nudged the bond that had slowly been formed between the Slytherins and Gryffindors closer together, as they now seemed to have common enemies. Namely, Severus Snape and he himself were the two /evil/ teachers. He was just about as hard as the greasy potions master on his students was if not more so. His new nickname was the Teacher from Hell and Dumbledore had even joked to him after he found out and had given him a name plate with that on it. Needless to say, he had placed it on his desk in the classroom.  
  
Vicious didn't WANT to be the teacher from hell, but he had to. The students complained about the exercises that they had to do and the amount of Homework that they had. Let alone the tests that they had at least once a week that made any of the other teachers look pitiful. They had yet to realize what had happened, or the fact that they were actually at N.E.W.T. level now if not beyond. Plus, they were now sporting some muscle that could be used in a dual and they were always on their toes now that he had told them that he would test them outside of class to see what they had learned by attacking them when they least expected it. Dumbledore received complaints from the sixth year classes parents left and right and they both received very many howlers that they immediately destroyed. It had become quite boring to listen to the same things over and over again from different people.  
  
The weird thing that came out of all of this and caused mostly the whole school to turn against him was the lack of hostility between the potions master and the defense against the dark arts professor. In fact, their relationship was borderline on friendship. Vicious as well as all of the professors knew about Snape's role as a spy in the Death Eater ranks, so it was no surprise when Severus limped in one day looking as though he had just been through hell. He had lost a lot of blood and most of it was caked on his own clothes. What really upset the potions master the most wasn't the amount of time that he would have to spend in the hospital wing, it was the fact that he had lost one of his arms.  
  
So, like it, hate it, please review... 


	7. Learning

Title: The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Cowboy Bebop nor have I had  
anything to do with their production. I am just a writer who sees the  
talent and likes to create stories that show the limits of my imagination.  
  
Synopsis: In Harry's fifth year, he is contacted by a mysterious  
organization. He disappears and comes back a year later with a new look and  
a new name. A lot happens in the span of time that he is gone, and both  
Dumbledore and Voldemort each think that the other has Harry secretly  
hidden away. Harry disappears and neither side realizes that the enemy does  
not hold him. The wizarding world lives on without it's hero, and most  
think that he is off somewhere training. If only Dumbledore or Voldemort  
realized how close to the truth the common people really were.  
  
Chapter 7 - Learning  
  
The students had been enjoying a fine meal until they saw one of their most  
hated teachers stumble into the hall looking like he had just somehow  
escaped from the devil himself. Some students gasped in horror while some  
of the more emotional ones began to weep right there. Don't get them wrong,  
they had neither liked nor loved the man but no one deserved to go through  
something like that. Madame Pomphrey immediately rushed from her seat at  
the head table over to the patient before forcing him out of the great hall  
toward the hospital wing so that he could be treated. Dumbledore stood up  
almost immediately and the students began to quit their murmering knowing  
full well that when the headmaster stood up like that he was going to make  
an anouncement.  
  
"Students, do not fret over the condition of Professor Snape. All will be  
fine in several days and until then I am afraid that there will not be any  
potions classes," Dumbledore paused here because normally, any news of  
there not being potions merited for some cheers from the crowd. Now,  
however, everyone seemed to realize how bad the situation was and even  
though they would have cheered they knew that this was neither the time nor  
the place, "Prefects, please lead your houses back to their common rooms.  
Anyone who is found roming the halls will be given two weeks of detention  
in the forbidden forest with Professor Bromista which I'm sure that you  
will regret. Professors," here Dumbledore turned and looked at his group of  
collegues "we will be going to the hospital wing immediately and afterward  
those that are the heads of houses will talk to some of their students so  
that they know what is going on. Bromista, would you please talk to the  
Slytherin house after we leave the hospital wing for the night?"  
  
Vicious nodded and watched the students heading back to their common rooms  
as fast as their legs would carry them. Actually, the students began to  
flee when they heard that if they didn't remain there in the common rooms  
that they would have to go into the forbidden Forest and if that wasn't  
scary enough they would have to go with a teacher that would be likely to  
either leave them in there or would attack them himself. Needless to say  
they never waited for the old man to finish his speech and when he turned  
around to address the students again he showed no surprise that only one or  
two of the most dedicated remained while the others had fled as if their  
bottoms were on fire. "You are dismissed." he declared and watched the  
students that had remained run out of the hall, some of them tripping on  
their robes and falling to the ground. He couldn't help the small chuckle  
that escaped and spoke to Vicious without turning around to see him, "I see  
that you have become VERY popular among the students." he joked and heard  
the reply 'Like a plague' before they began the trek to see how Severus  
Snape was.  
  
Meanwhile, Severus Snape was making his way to the hospital wing with  
Madame Pomphrey. He had never really liked her when they had attended  
school together. She had been a lowly Hufflepuff while he had been in one  
of the two greatest houses, Slytherin. Don't misunderstand him. He had and  
always will think of Gryffindors as being annoying brats who would follow  
blindly. There were those that had leadership qualities amongst them  
(heaven forbid he mention that the main one used to be Potter) but they  
were too naive and too trusting to be any good leader. A leader knows and  
understands that anyone could stab them in the back. This includes both  
friends and family as they can be used against a person. Slytherins seemed  
to understand this better than the other houses and didn't really have  
close friends or family knowing that one day it could and would mean the  
difference between life and death. Potter never realized that, and he had  
been a fool. At first, Snape had believed that the Potter boy (the bloody -  
boy - who - lived) was a rich and spoiled brat like his father had been.  
Everyone looked over this aspect about James and said that he was a good  
kid which infuriated the dark man even more. But he had learned from the  
headmaster a little before last year that Potter had never been spoiled or  
known that he was rich and that things that the boy - who - lived hated the  
most was pity and fame. Early on the boy had no breaks in his life. Whether  
it be living in a cupboard under the stairs, being treated like a house  
elf, and hated by his relatives; his life had never been as good as most  
but then again it wasn't as bad as some. At least to their knowledge the  
boy had never been beaten.  
  
His musings ended as the matron almost pushed him toward the bed but since  
she didn't know the extent of his injuries or if any of them were internal  
she settled for yelling, "Severus Snape, you get into that bed right now!"  
  
Mumbling several obsenities and death threats under his breath, he made his  
way over to the bed that she had pointed out. He may be a bit stubborn at  
times (well ... most of the time) but he didn't want to mess with Poppy  
Pomphrey when she was in over protective mother mode. Several seconds  
later, she came bustling over with her wand after she retrieved it from the  
desk in her office and began casting spells to identify what injuries he  
had and gathering potions while casting charms to heal her patient. Just  
then, the doors to the outside of the hall opened and in stepped headmaster  
Dumbledore closely followed by all of the professors.  
  
"How is Severus Poppy?"  
  
"He should be alright Albus. He lost a good deal of blood and,  
unfortunately, I can't reattach his arm..." the Healing Witch answered only  
to be interrupted by an outraged Potions Master.  
  
"Why not?! Voldemort reattached someone's hand before, I have seen the hand  
itself and it is in perfect working condition."  
"I'm sorry.  
  
There really is nothing that I can do. A hand is smaller then a whole arm  
and requires less work. If you were to have a hand like that one, then you  
would end up worse for where. What is given with magic can and will be  
taken away. Strength spells where off, speed spells wear off, and one day  
soon that hand will have to be reconjured and reattached if the body does  
not reject the foreign object."  
  
Severus Snape would not cry. Instead, he hid his expressions behind the  
blank and indifferent mask that he wore around his students. He could not  
show weakness at any moment for when he did they were sure to strike. Once  
before, a long, long, long time ago he had shown his true feelings to the  
person that he loved and it ended in heartache for him. Never, never again  
was his vigil and oath that he would not let his heart become shattered  
once more as he was just trying to piece it back together. What Madame  
Pomphrey said to his colleagues next made him ALMOST show his emotions, as  
it was what he feared...  
  
"Unfortunately, he will not be able to make all of the potions that he did  
before. Most require precise timing, and that means that he would have to  
use both of his arms. The only way that he might be able to get around it  
was if he had someone else there to help him but there aren't very many  
people that I have heard of that are on his level and most of them are too  
pig headed to help someone missing an arm."  
  
Dumbledore nodded in silent woe while Vicious looked on with some sort of  
detached interest and sorrow. On one hand he was a little happy that the  
man that had treated him like a piece of dirt for the last four years was  
injured and more than likely would not be able to brew complex potions  
again. However, on the other hand he felt bad for what happened to the man.  
He was hard to get along with and really didn't like kids that much, but he  
wasn't really an evil git but was largely misunderstood. Vicious himself  
was hated by the students as well and he realized that if you really forced  
a kid to work so they would be ready for real life after they left the  
safety of Hogwarts that they would hate you and wouldn't realize that one  
day the information could and probably would save their lives. The side  
that sympathized with the potions master won over the one that disliked him  
due to his own reputation as being the 'Teacher from Hell'  
  
"Could the rest of you please excuse us? I would like to talk the  
headmaster alone." Severus Snape spoke without the usual malice in his  
voice, but he still didn't sound anything but indifferent to what had  
happened to him. The other teachers succeeded and left the room wondering  
if the dark man would be alright, and if he was going to give up his  
position as teacher out of shame.  
  
As the others walked out of the infirmary they split to go their separate  
ways and Vicious hid himself in a nook that happened to conveniently be  
nearby. When the other professors had already passed, he began to  
manipulate his power over shadows. The one thing that he had learned to do  
with the shadows, other than kill by using them, was to wrap them around  
his body and essentially become a shadow himself. In this way, he could  
slide under the doors of the hospital wing and creep onto a dark section of  
the wall so that he could hear their conversation. Since he was not  
invisible or underneath an invisibility cloak, Dumbledore would be none the  
wiser that they were being watched. Unfortunately, he had only been  
practicing this for a long time now and he had never tried it out before.  
The longest he could stay that way was close to forty five minutes, after  
which he had to immediately change back and rest for nearly six hours. The  
ability to blend with the shadows was very taxing to energy. While he had  
magical energy to spare since he wore those bands his body did not have  
that much and the human body can only take so much strain before it has to  
recuperate.  
  
Sliding up the door, he quickly made his way to the darkest part of the  
walls so that he could observe their conversation undiscovered. Nobody  
noticed the shadow that moved across the floor and onto the wall, which was  
lucky since nine chances out of ten they would have tried to kill him.  
  
"Severus," Dumbledore spoke in a caring voice, "just because you lost your  
arm doesn't mean that I am going to fire you."  
  
"What good is a potions master that can't make potions Albus? Why won't you  
just accept my resignation and find a replacement?"  
  
"A potions master is STILL a potions master whether he can make difficult  
and complex potions or not. Plus, I refuse to accept your resignation. I  
have the professor that I want right here and I do not want any other one  
to fill the position. You have earned my respect over the years, and I will  
not give up on you when you want to give up on yourself."  
  
Silence rained in the hospital wing after that statement. Severus Snape  
would not hurt the old man any more, Vicious Bromista agreed with the  
headmaster, and Albus Dumbledore had an epiphany the likes of which would  
be talked about for many years to come. Of course the old coot was one of  
the smartest and sneakiest headmasters that Hogwarts had ever seen. No  
wonder when he first placed on that sorting had so many years ago that it  
wanted to put him in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, where he ended up.  
  
Vicious realized with a start when he looked at the clock on the wall above  
the infirmary doors that he only had three minutes and he had to get out of  
here. The strain that his body was feeling was already beginning to become  
more prominent and noticeable to him. He had to change back and lay down to  
rest, soon. Thinking back to the last time that he stayed too long, he  
remembered that the next day he practically had to drag himself through his  
classes while he tried not to kill the snot nosed brats that thought he was  
being mean to them for a reason. Of course, it was like them not to notice  
that he wasn't nearly as bad to them that day than he had been the day  
before. He had skipped the meals in the great hall, asking one of the house  
elves instead to bring up the meals to his room. Dumbledore stopped by  
later, asking if everything was alright and he replied that he didn't get  
much rest the night before for a reason that escaped his grasp. Luckily,  
the old man bought it and the next day after a good nights sleep he was  
right as rain.  
  
Moving as swiftly as he could when he was a shadow, he sped toward the door  
of the infirmary. When the hell did this place get to be so damn long? He  
thought that luck was on his side and he was home free, oh how wrong he  
was.  
  
Severus Snape was staring at the floor unable to look into the man that had  
been his mentor ever since he decided to turn against his family and his  
friends to become a spy for the light side. He was afraid to disappoint the  
old man and even though he felt as though he was useless since he lost his  
arm. While he was looking down he happened to notice something that just  
wasn't right. A dark mass, a shadow, was sliding across the floor as fast  
as it could go trying to get to the door. Growing up in a magical  
household, he knew when to be careful and he had never seen anything like  
this before in his life. Jumping out of bed despite his injuries he began  
to hurry as fast as he could to the doors of the infirmary ignoring Albus  
as he asked what was going on.  
  
Vicious was finally out of the infirmary. He realized that he could not  
stay like this any more than he had to. Checking to make sure that noone  
was looking, he began to change back not realizing that Snape was peeking  
out of the door of the infirmary at him.  
  
The potions master watched in fascination at what was happening in front of  
his eyes. The shadow on the floor of the hall began to stretch up and took  
the outline of a man. He witnessed them begin to dissipate leaving Vicious  
Bromista who began to walk down the hall toward his chambers not sparing a  
glance back to realize that he had an audience.  
  
"What are you looking at Severus?" an inquisitive Albus Dumbledore asked  
his friend and colleague. When the potions master turned around he bore a  
strange expression on his face.  
  
A/N: I HAVE GIVEN UP READING OTHER FANFICTION UNTIL I HAVE FINISHED. I have  
recently thought of another story that I am going to come out with after  
this one is finished. The concepts began to mix together along with my  
interest in reading other stories like you. The things that I will focus on  
now is my school work for college ( I desperately need a 4.0 just to prove  
that I can do it), my girlfriend, and this story. Sorry to put out this  
chapter so late. Will you forgive me?  
  
Read/Review 


	8. Questions

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor have I ever owned anything from the Harry Potter series or from the Cowboy Bebop series. I have also had nothing to do with the creating of these series. I am merely a fan to both of them and wish to right a story that uses some of the characters.  
  
Chapter 8 - Questions  
  
Albus Dumbledore couldn't help but be a little flabbergasted at watching an injured man who should have been in a hospital bed leap out of his bed as if it were on fire and run to the end of the hall only to peek out of the door. His tired and weary bones protested getting out of the comfortable seat but he did it nonetheless and made his way behind his friend. "What are you looking at Severus?"  
  
Snape turned around and faced his headmaster not really wanting to believe what his eyes had just shown him. He always knew that there was something about Vicious that others didn't seem to take any notice of. Despite his young age, he held an air of power around him much like Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle. None seemed to notice it much however as it was cleverly concealed. Should he trust the headmaster with this piece of knowledge? What would Albus really do with it? Finally deciding that there just wasn't enough information to go on right now, the put back on the blank mask that he was used to wearing at his death eater meetings and answered his long time friend with a lie that he would never be able to forgive himself for. "Nothing. It was nothing at all. I just thought that I heard someone screaming and thought that the death eaters might have followed me here. Although, it seems that I was wrong in that assumption."  
  
Now, Albus Dumbledore might have been old but he wasn't senile. He knew that he had just been lied to and he desperately wanted to know the truth but he knew that asking the potions master now would be futile. After all, he was the one who taught the man when he first came to him as a boy how to keep secrets and not divulge them. Perhaps he taught him too well, but the knowledge came in handy when he went to work as a spy. Oh well, if it was truly important then he would find out eventually. Helping the injured man back into the bed he had vacated, he couldn't help but wander what in the world had happened.  
  
Vicious Bromista made his way through the halls of Hogwarts toward his rooms. After walking upon several of the students who were out after dark and removing points from their houses while assigning them a detention, he reached his chambers. Seeing the painting of the warrior covered in blood, who happened to go be the name of Athed (A/N: Athed is an anagram for the word Death), he whispered the password.  
  
"May god have mercy on my soul for what I have to become to do what must be done."  
  
The portrait bowed to the man acknowledging both the truth behind these words and the fact that it was the password that Vicious had chosen when he accepted the position as professor. Upon entering his chambers, he noticed Athena leaving her perch to fly over to land on his shoulder, trying to comfort him and help replenish the energy that he had lost.  
  
"Don't worry Athena." He spoke to his ice phoenix while stroking her back to show that he cared for his pet. "I will soon recover on my own. Freezing day will be soon, and I don't want you to tax yourself out. If you use too much of your energy you know that you might not come back."  
  
Athena nodded, accepting her master's decision. When a phoenix bonds to a wizard or to a witch, then they have the ability to feel the emotions of one another. She knew that fate seemed to plot against him in elaborate schemes, and the only way that he could truly be free was when Voldemort finally met his end. Vicious didn't realize that Athena knew so much about him, but he knew that she had decided to stay by his side until the very end. He didn't feel so alone now. Making his way over to his couch, he laid down and fell asleep under the watchful gaze of Athena, who prayed to herself that her master would be alright and would one day be free to soar and free to be himself.  
  
Everyone has the ability to where a mask, some more so than others. Severus observed this as he sat at the head table the morning that he was released from the infirmary. The students as well as most of the faculty were looking at him with some sort of morbid curiosity, like when you would pass an accident or know of an accident and wanted to see for yourself. One man was different though, and that one man had been the one that Vicious had been thinking about since that fateful night.  
  
No, Severus Snape was not gay. This man had been running through his mind because he was a mystery that just refused to be solved. How was he able to turn into shadows? That was supposed to be humanly impossible, that is if he were completely human. Still, no magical creature known to man had the ability to do what he had seen that man do. It was all very confusing, and more often than not gave the former death eater a headache. Vicious was acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened to the "greasy bastard" at all. Most would have pitied the potions master, but this man simply refused to and still treated him the same way.  
  
"So, Professor Snape, how do you feel today?" Minerva McGonagall asked in a voice that was as nice and compassionate as the stern lady would allow in front of anyone else.  
  
"How do you think I feel?" Snape sneered at the woman who had given him pity. He couldn't help but notice the hurt look that crossed over her face. She was only trying to be nice after all, and that made the man almost feel bad for what he had just done. Almost.  
  
"Like a bloody bastard, as always." Vicious interrupted from the other side of Severus. The others looked at him with something akin to hatred in their eyes for the way that he was treating the crippled man that they had taught alongside of for years. "I will not give you pity like everyone else for your arm. You made your own choices in life, whether you like it or not, and I will not treat you any differently than I have before. You are still and will always be the same greasy bastard that you were before and I am still the same teacher from hell."  
  
That said, Vicious stood up from the table and made his way toward his office since it was a Saturday and he had a lot of tests to grade. The other teachers and students that were close enough to hear the conversation couldn't believe that the defense against the dark arts teacher had been that insensitive. Following him as he left the hall, their gazes were full of hate and scorn thus when they turned back to Snape to see how he had taken it they could only be shocked.  
  
Severus Snape couldn't help the smile that crept up on his face even after he noticed the stunned gazes. Bromista had not taken pity like the rest and had actually made sure that he knew that he would be treated no differently. While others would pity him, Vicious would not take up that role even if everyone else hated him. Greasy Bastard as he was, he was now convinced that he had not made the wrong choice by keeping what he had seen a secret from the headmaster that night nearly a week ago and that one day the two of them might actually become something like friends. Both of them were similar in the way that they acted and both of them were loners who kept to themselves for their own reasons. Friends indeed.  
  
Upon reaching the door to his office, he took off the locking charm that he had on the door that kept the students out and moved into the chair behind his desk that was burdened by large stacks of paperwork on the top. God, he hated grading papers because each and every single one had to be gone through thoroughly. His classes were beginning to shape up and had learned faster than he had given them credit for. Always having to maintain his teacher from hell persona he had to keep pushing them far beyond the limit. Now he began to realize his problem. He had taught them everything too soon. They were more knowledgeable now than even the seventh years. He had to push the fifth year class the most, as they were the ones that the future pivoted itself on. Unbeknownst to them, they were the next leaders of society. Still, he had almost run out of stuff to teach all of the different classes. Athena trilled in a way of greeting as she flew in through the window and landed on her perch in the corner to keep him company. Sighing, he decided to get it over with and grade the bloody things.  
  
Nearing lunchtime, he was finished with nearly three fourths of the papers. They were nearly perfect in their answers so he wouldn't have much to count off on if anything at all. Naïve as they were, they had no idea of the amount of knowledge they had acquired in just several months time. These were the tests that the students in the A.W.E. had to take. A.W.E. stood for Advanced Wizardry Exams and were the college version of finals that was much harder than the N.E.W.T.S. They actually did a decent job at the answers and many of them might have been able to pass if they learned a little more within the next year. The fact remained that he had taught them too much too fast. He was running out of things to teach them, as they had learned more than most already. Yet, he had never taught them the basics and had skipped to the advanced work. They were unbalanced in this, and may fail their O.W.L.S. Basics were a must have for the O.W.L.S. and even though these students would have excelled at the N.E.W.T.S they would do poorly on the O.W.L.S. However, this knowledge was required if they were in the need to defend themselves. It wasn't like knowing about evil slugs would help them in a fight against the most powerful of the dark creatures that roamed the world. However, for a reason that he was not able to comprehend there was a part in the O.W.L. exams for Defense Against the Dark Arts that to do with the Gluss (evil slugs). Silently shaking his head in amusement, he was brought out of his thoughts by a knocking on his door.  
  
There had to have been a student at his door, and this was a first. The professors would have knocked politely and then entered, but the students were to wait outside until told to enter. Using a very nifty spell that he had read from one of the books in the library, he looked out his door to see none other than Hermione Granger standing there. Thinking quickly, he took his journal (A/N: You will be able to read this journal at a later point in time when the contents of the journal are discovered.) out of a secret compartment in the dresser and made sure that the text was unreadable for now. Knowing the young witch, she would do anything to solve a mystery and would eventually do just that. Still, he had the only book in the entire school that told how to remove the charm in his possession since he had taken it out of the school library. Some more quick thinking and he used his power over shadows to warp the words, and make the text look different than it was. Replacing the spell that locked the book shut, he laid the journal on top of his desk and called to the witch to "Come in."  
  
Hermione Granger prided herself on being one of the most knowledgeable witches in the school. She was never one to care all that much for gossip, and heaven knows that she didn't like Severus Snape, but that didn't mean that she could ignore what happened at breakfast this morning. Always one to study, she had been in the library at the time of the confrontation between Bromista and Snape. Ginny and Ron had rushed there after breakfast to tell her what they had heard. In her mind, Bromista had been wrong but something that she didn't understand was why he had acted like the Teacher from Hell since school started. When they met in Diagon Alley he seemed really nice under the tough exterior but that was no reason for him to hurt the feelings of a fellow human being like that. In a righteous tirade she made her way down to his office. When she had told Ginny and Ron they had thought that she had lost her mind.  
  
"Ginny, I think that we should call St. Mungos and tell them that all the knowledge fried her brain and that they should come and pick her up." Ron said as he looked at her as if she had grown a second head.  
  
"For once I agree with you Ron. Hermione, what could make you even think about going to his office? That would be like going to hell to have a cup of tea with old Lucifer himself. ARE YOU CRAZY?" Glancing around and telling Madame Pince that it was an accident, she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Don't do it. I don't want to see you hurt."  
  
Ron looked confused while Hermione understood perfectly. They had never told Ron that Hermione had the hots for the teacher when they saw him in Diagon Alley. Ginny was afraid that she was going to end up hurting herself because he now acted like he didn't care about nobody but himself. Without saying another word, she picked up her satchel and walked out of the library to go visit 'old Lucifer.'  
  
Vicious didn't act all that surprised when the young witch entered his office. "Take a seat, take a seat." He said as he motioned to the empty chair setting across from his desk, which she took with some apprehension thinking that it might have been cursed only to sigh in relief when nothing happened, "Now, what brings you down here to visit me? You do know that this is the first time that a student has ever stepped foot in my office?"  
  
"I have come here to talk to you about the way that you treated Professor Snape this morning at breakfast. Have you no compassion? Do you even feel remorse for what you have done? You must since you have a phoenix and they do not choose someone who is not worthy of them." Hermione Granger ranted at the Professor, her face becoming a little flushed from her anger at even mentioning it.  
  
"I have no remorse at all for what I said this morning and if you thought that you could come here and try to convince me otherwise then you are a bigger fool than I thought." Professor Bromista stated as he leaned back in his chair, enjoying the comforts that came along with the position that he held.  
  
An even further red faced Hermione replied, "What the hell happened to you? You were nice that day in Diagon Alley and now you act like you don't care at all about other people's feelings. The students hate you."  
  
"I'm well aware of that." Vicious interrupted another one of her tirades and left her speechless.  
  
"You knew?"  
  
"Of course I knew, I'm not deaf or blind you know. Why else would they call me the teacher from hell?"  
  
"Is that why you are so hard on us?"  
  
"My reasons are my own, Ms. Granger. As for what happened this morning, as I said before, the entire population of Hogwarts except for a select few, are fools indeed."  
  
"So I am a fool then?" She responded coldly as her rage began to come back.  
  
"Yes." Before she began to shout he continued, "How would you feel about being treated like a cripple? Everybody in the Great Hall this morning pitied the potions master. The only thing that has changed about him is that now he is missing an arm. He is still the same on the inside, and I showed him that he was not going to get pity from me. I am not going to take it easy on him. Severus Snape is a man of honor and to be pitied the way that he was is a slap in the face to him and his family."  
  
She couldn't believe her ears. Had she really been that big of a fool until the obvious was pointed out to her? A squawk brought her out of her thoughts. Looking over to a perch in the corner of the room, a magnificent sight met her eyes.  
  
"She is Athena. You heard about her before in Diagon Alley and I didn't know if you remembered that." Hermione could only nod her head to show that she remembered, "Of course, you are seeing her at a bad time."  
  
"What do you mean a bad time?" She asked as the phoenix squawked again.  
  
"Normally she is much more beautiful than this. You just happened to catch her on a Freezing Day. Even the headmaster has never seen this yet."  
  
"A Freezing Day?" She asked, knowing full well do to her research in the library on the matter that phoenix's had Burning Days, not Freezing Days.  
  
"Yes. Athena, unlike others of her species, is an ice phoenix. She saw ice first not fire. Thus, she does not have a burning day like her brethren but a freezing day. Just watch."  
  
Athena squawked a few more times and then something amazing and wonderful happened. Instead of being surrounded by flames, the phoenix was surrounded by ice. The ice began to crack and then it came apart into many light blue crystals. Moving around in the crystals was the baby ice phoenix.  
  
"So, what do you think?" Vicious asked. Hermione was still speechless at what she had just witnessed. Books had several descriptions about burning days and even though she had never seen a phoenix have a burning day she knew that the privilege of watching this went above and beyond that. This was really, really rare to witness. Walking over to the small bird, Vicious picked it up with his hands and turned to speak once more, "I am going to go to my chambers and place her there so she will be more comfortable. Feel free to stick around if you want to talk some more or you can leave if you want to, I really don't care."  
  
Hermione sat in a chair waiting for the handsome professor to return. Looking around, she noticed a book sitting on the professor's desk. It looked like a journal. Well, it wouldn't hurt to take a peak now would it? Lifting it from its place, she tried to open it only to find that it was spelled shut. This was just another intriguing mystery about the man. She had realized for quite some time now that he was not teaching them anything on this year's curriculum for the O.W.L.S, and that most of it was advanced.  
  
Glancing around quickly, she put it in her bag to figure out later and fled from the room in a hurried yet not too much rush. Watching her go, Vicious stepped out of the shadow that had been next to one of the suits of armor. Having already placed Athena on her perch in his room and telling her to only come to him today if it was a dire emergency, he had hid in the shadows by using his power again. He was a little drained since she had taken a while to come out of the room. Stepping into his office, he immediately noticed that his journal had been taken. All he had to do now was wait until the right time to use it to his advantage.  
  
At dinner that night, which was accompanied by fewer glares at Professor Bromista by the students since Hermione had told some of her friends (namely Ron and Ginny) about his reasoning behind it. It was a scrumptious meal, as always. Headmaster Dumbledore stood up at the end to make a startling announcement.  
  
"I have something very special planned for next week. As you all know, Professor Snape has requested for many years now to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts. It has also come to my attention that Professor Bromista is a little skilled in the art of potion brewing, though not nearly a master or as skilled as Professor Snape. It is my idea that, for one week, both of these classes will be switched. Professor Snape will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and Professor Bromista will teach potions. That is all." There was completed silence in the Great Hall as the old man sat back down in his chair.  
  
Thanks to Arizosa, Max77, ambarina, and Ron for reviewing. Chapter 9 should be out next week.  
  
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	9. Answers

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor have I had anything to do with the production or the creation of Harry Potter or Cowboy Bebop. I am but a simple author who would like to include these stories into a work of fiction.  
  
Chapter 9 - Answers  
  
The hall was in stunned silence after this announcement. Most of all, Severus Snape and Vicious Bromista were speechless. How could the headmaster do something like this without asking them about it first? This must have been some kind of a sick joke, though they could tell by the expression that the headmaster bore on his face that this was no joke. Everyone knew that Dumbledore was a little off of his rocker, but that was to be expected from one who had seen and lived through as many things as he did in his long lifetime. He had seen the rise of Gryndilwald to power, WWII, Hitler and his Nazis, but this just all went to show that the old man was senile.  
  
"Surely you must be joking Albus." Minerva posed as both a statement and a question.  
  
"I am not joking about this."  
  
"How could you even think about switching their positions? That is just pure lunacy." Flitwick squeaked while looking up at the headmaster.  
  
"I'm not loony. In fact, I have been thinking about this for a while now. Years ago, I knew that as long as Voldemort might return that Severus had to at least pose to favor the Slytherin kids. If he didn't, then more than likely they would have tried to kill him or worse yet claim that they had been witness to some things that might land him in Azkaban. His position as a spy has been compromised, and thus I have decided to give him a chance." Turning to Severus Snape he continued with his speech, "You have wanted to teach that class for as long as I have known you. I admit that you are much more skilled at the fine arts of brewing potions than you are to be fit to teach that position. If you had to keep up appearances to the death eaters then they would have wanted you to teach their children the dark arts. This is not Durmstrang."  
  
Vicious was watching this a little amusedly and saw the fierce sparkling eyes of the headmaster on him. "Bromista is much more talented than he lets on. I know for a fact that while he is VERY highly skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts and war in general, that he has a slight ability to brew potions. Nothing close to being a master at it, but I have been told that he can brew several ones that are complicated."  
  
"I am not that talented at it, but I am not the worst in the world." Vicious commented, as he was taught the basics of potions during his stay with Spike, even how to brew at and a little above N.E.W.T. level.  
  
"However talented he may be I still think that this might not be such a good idea." Snape spoke.  
  
"It is a good idea. Bromista should be able to handle your classes for at least one week even if he were to only have them reading from their textbooks and doing essays. You, on the other hand, will finally get the chance to prove to yourself and to me if you are suitable enough for teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts position next year. Given that when Vicious made the contract for only one year, I do believe that he isn't going to be staying here any longer. IF he decides that teaching is not the right career for him, then you may very well be the new teacher of that position if we can find another person who is skilled to be your replacement."  
  
That little impromptu speech at the head table had settled it. None of the teachers would go against Dumbledore's wishes so they had agreed to just let this one slide. Even though he made the wrong decisions sometimes he would always try his best to correct them and at times when others thought he was crazy the situation turned out to the positive instead of the negative. Later that evening, Snape decided to pay a little visit to the chambers of the enigma that went by the name of Vicious Bromista only to discover that there was no answer when he knocked on the door to the chamber. Most would think that the man was more than likely asleep and would like to get his rest, Severus Snape was not one to be fooled easily and thought that it was just a little bit suspicious. Then again, he might have been paranoid since he thought that the way that he had held his fork when he was moving food to his mouth was suspicious.  
  
Having decided that his revenge should be dished out now before he had to change schedules and teach potions all week, Vicious was walking through the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack back towards Hogwarts underneath the invisibility cloak. Tonight was fun but tomorrow was going to take all he could handle to keep himself from smiling and even laughing about what had happened, and he damn sure couldn't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face in the morning. Not only the look on Draco Malfoy, but the looks on the faces of Lucious Malfoy and his wife Narcissa as well. Then again, old Tommy boy would definitely be displeased at the outcome of the night either.  
  
Breakfast was a common event in the Great Hall. Not all of the students at Hogwarts stayed there to enjoy it and most would wake up only to run in there late and grab a piece of food before heading to class. This morning was no different and probably wouldn't be. Everyone who was there was sitting there talking to his or her friends and neighbors when the post arrived. Upon opening the Daily Prophet, those who had purchased it were shocked into silence and soon so were everyone else. Vicious had a twinkle in his eye as he watched the proceedings from the head table though no one could see this because of his customary shades. After several seconds of shock, there was a complete pandemonium when several Aurors came in demanding to look through the possessions of the blond haired Slytherin.  
  
The Daily Prophet  
  
Malfoy Name Disgraced  
  
Late last night, it came to the attention to the Ministry of Magic that one of the most prominent families of wizarding society may have been dealing in the dark arts. A surprise raid was performed on the Malfoy Manor and many dark artifacts were discovered when it was found that there was really a trapdoor that led to a secret room under a rug. Walking down the stairs, Ministry officials discovered enough items to land Lucious Malfoy in Azkaban serving several terms. This was not all they found, however, as they had also discovered a ledger which contained many dealings with several shady people.  
  
After leaving the manor and arresting Lucious Malfoy and his wife Narcissa, Aurors made their way to Gringotts in Diagon Alley to impound their vaults and all the items that were in it. The head goblin told that something strange had happened that night as well and that nearly seventy-five percent of the funds once held inside the vaults had been stolen.  
  
"One whole wall was ripped off. I've never seen anything like it, especially with the dragon that had been guarding it. The culprit first slain the dragon," the goblin vomits off to the side here as it was a gruesome sight, "then tore the place apart. Whoever it was disabled the security systems because we didn't even notice anything until we accompanied the Aurors down here."  
  
The Ministry has impounded the remaining money that was in the vault as well as their manor and all of their holdings. It is a shame to think about how we all trusted and respected the despicable Malfoys.  
  
Tadd LeTell (special correspondent)  
  
"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, we have here a search warrant that allows us to go through young Malfoy's things. We must determine if he had any prior knowledge about his father's dealings in the Dark Arts," spoke the head Auror when the headmaster stood, "we will check his rooms momentarily."  
  
Just then, one of the young Aurors who had to literally tear the satchel from the boy exclaimed, "Sir, take a look at this!"  
  
What he held up was none other than a book entitled "Dark Curses, Spells They Won't Teach At Hogwarts" by A. Nonymous. After seeing the title, they decided that this was enough and immediately dragged him out of the room to be tested under Veritaserum.  
  
Severus Snape, who had watched these proceedings, was not in the least bit shocked. He had known for a long time that their family had dabbled in the Dark Arts, especially Lucious whom had been a fellow Death Eater in Lord Voldemort's inner circle. Still, the boy had to have had fewer brains than the the - bloody - boy - who - lived since he actually was carrying that with him, let alone having it in the school where other people might find it. He was a minor though, so he wouldn't be in too much trouble but he might be kicked out of Hogwarts.  
  
Many people couldn't take the commotion of the proceedings of the past days. Yesterday they discovered that the two banes of the students were going to be switching jobs and they had no doubt that it might be worse than it was before. Then, today, came the less than shocking (to the students and staff, but not the rest of the world) information that the Malfoys had been in the Dark Arts. Many of the students felt like cheering even a few of the Slytherins, but they would not dare do it. Today was the day that would be remembered for a long time for the fall of the noble (*cough* yeah right *cough*) house of Malfoy. Silently, the students were thanking the high heavens that this was Sunday as they stood no chance at all of paying attentions if there had been lessons that day. As it turns out, Malfoy was expelled and sent to live with his aunt in France, who was a squib and didn't have a lot of money.  
  
Monday morning was fast approaching and soon the Gryffindor and the Slytherin fifth year class was standing outside of the Potions dungeon awaiting the arrival of their new professor (only for one week thank god). There were some spots of nervous chatter here and there but most of all it was eerily quiet. With a flash the professor past them in the hall and had opened the door before he seated himself behind the desk and taking a good look around. Quickly, the students made their ways to their seats before the professor could take off any points from their house.  
  
"Welcome class, to what I assure you will begin to understand in a short while. I do not like the art of making potions," a collective gasp issued from the students, "but I must respect the headmaster's wishes. In this instance, I have decided to let you all off of the hook this week. You will read through the first five chapters of your potion book again and be ready to take a large quiz on Friday. Longbottem, I do not want you anywhere near a cauldron in my presence so put it away. Now, you can either set here and read, which I advise, or you can leave. I don't really care but you had better be ready for the test on Friday because I assure you it will be worth all of the grades you will receive for this week and then some."  
  
There was a mad dash for the exit with Neville at the lead. The only one who seemed to be wanting and willing to stay in the classroom for this period was Hermione and even then she had to tell Ron to leave her be. Seeing her chance to speak to him she waited until the last person who left had shut the door before looking up at him. Vicious was reclining in the chair with his feet propped up on the desk.  
  
"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Hermione was more than a little intrigued about what was in the journal but she also wanted to know a little bit about the man himself.  
  
"You just did, but yes you can ask me some questions although they may not be answered."  
  
"What made you decide to become a Professor here? I chose that occupation when I had to choose what tests I would take for the O.W.L.S."  
  
"It was not an easy position to attain. I didn't have very much competition for the job since most everyone considers the position to be cursed."  
  
Before any more questions could be asked, the bell rang signaling the end of the lesson.  
  
"Ms. Granger I do believe that I have a class to be getting ready for and you have to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts so maybe we can continue this conversation some other day." Hermione nodded her acceptance of this and left the classroom. Once outside the door, Bromista let out a breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding. He had wanted to tell her the truth but he couldn't. She would just get a broken heart again and he didn't want that to happen. Harry Potter could not come back now but maybe he could someday. At least Vicious knew that he could no longer remain dead and forgotten because too many people cared about him.  
  
Severus Snape watched with the smallest bit of apprehension as the sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin class made their way into their seats in the room. It was eerily quiet, as none of them seemed to want to even breathe too loudly.  
  
"Today we are going to discuss Glugs. Who here can tell me what they are and what they are capable of?" Surprising nobody raised his or her hand, not even Granger. "Weasley?"  
  
"I don't know sir." Ron answered a bit sheepishly.  
  
"It figures that you wouldn't know. Probably none of you know what an Oneb is." In response to this question, everyone in the class raised their hands. Thanking god that he didn't show his shock Severus called the one person who was the least likely to know. "Longbottem."  
  
"It is a dangerous creature that is closely linked to the dementor. Even though they are few, they are still one of the deadliest creatures in existence because of their hunger. They eat bone to survive and will literally tear a person apart to get to their bones. Their hunger is never quenched and the more bones that they eat the deadlier they become by increasing their ferociousness."  
  
The greasy bastard couldn't believe this. A fifth year class knew something that wasn't even taught in school and if it were to be taught it would be to seventh years. What was Bromista up to? He had to find out.  
  
"Class dismissed!" Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth all of the students fled as fast as they could and Neville actually elbowed people to get them out of his way. Hermione hung back a little though and saw the teacher leave the room at a dignified pace and make his way toward the office of Professor Bromista. She couldn't help but smile at the several days ago not even the teachers wanted to visit him and now he seemed to be the center of attention.  
  
Next Chapter: Vicious and Snape have a little talk and some questions that should have been asked are answered.  
  
Thanks to: Dragona 2007, Bosson12787, luke-6622427, DJ3, lordanhur, MissLexiRe, Maxx77, Rei Tamashii, peach-muffin90, Chomekitas, Arizosa, Jake Koontz, Rob.  
  
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	10. Syndicate

The Syndicate   
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor have I had anything to do with the production of the Harry Potter or the Cowboy Bebop series.  
  
PLEASE join my yahoo group at: . If you do not have a yahoo account, then email me at darkboltlightning@yahoo.com and request so that I may send you an invitation. Thank you.   
  
Chapter 10 - Syndicate   
  
Vicious Bromista was sitting in his office enjoying a nice cup of tea. When Hermione had left the room he had thought that he was going to have a class the next period but as it turned out he had been sorely mistaken. Defense Against the Dark Arts had a class this period but he did not have another class until later this afternoon and it consisted of second year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students. Looking at his desk he could not help but groan in exasperation. It was clean now but he would have to grade the tests at the end of this week and he was not looking forward to it. He was brought out of his wandering thoughts as there was a knock on the door.   
  
This made two days in a row that he had had a visitor at his door. It was not that he did not like to have visitors; he just didn't want to have to deal with some little teenager with raging hormones beating his door down to complain about the unfairness of life. After all he himself was a teenager but he understood better than most about the unpleasant hand that was dealt to him. Without looking through the door to see who it was as he rightly did not give a damn he called out.  
  
"Come in!"   
  
Severus Snape stepped into the office while taking in the décor with one sweep of his eyes. It was not that bad as most of the colors were black and silver, not that horrid red that the deputy headmistress' was. Bloody Gryffindor colors made the place look awful.   
  
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Vicious spoke as the one armed man sat down across from him.   
  
"I would like to talk to you about what you have been teaching your defense against the dark arts students. Did you know that they have no idea what a Gluss is?"   
  
"I hope that was not a problem," Vicious spoke with a small twinkle in his eye for he had known that this conversation was going to occur when the man took over his lessons.   
  
"Not at all," spoke Severus with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes as well, "imagine my surprise when I asked them only to have dead silence answer me. Then I was astounded when I mentioned that no one knew what an Oneb was only to have every single person raise their hand including Longbottem who happened to answer my question correctly."   
  
"I guess that would be a bit of a shock. That would be the reason that you have decided to grace me with your presence?" spoke Vicious while Severus wore a scowl on his features.  
  
"What would make you think that? I just came here to ask what you were doing with my class," he replied sarcastically.   
  
"For your class I am giving them the week off and not having them brew any potions. Then again I guess that it is a fair trade since they are going to have a very comprehensive quiz this Friday that will count for all of the grades that will go into this week's record book. What I did not tell them was that the test was not only going to be hand written. It is also going to have one of the hardest potions for them to brew with perfection."   
  
The greasy haired man scowled at the first part but Snape was actually laughing out loud at this. Bromista had to be some sort of a genius to come up with something like this. So far he had made his defense classes hate him with a passion and now he was luring them into a false sense of security by actually giving them a week off.   
  
"I am glad that you approve of what I am doing," the twinkle of mirth that was in his eyes extinguished quickly and Severus sat straight up to pay better attention, "but you know as well as I do that you came down here to question me about what the hell was a going on."  
  
Snape nodded his head at this, "That is one of the things that I was going to talk to you about. The other issue that I have to discuss with you is the happenings on the night that I was admitted to the hospital wing. I witnessed the strangest thing that night."   
  
The expression on the face of Vicious Bromista turned grave, "You know? I guess that I have a bit of explaining to do. This is neither the time nor the place to explain such matters. Meet me in my chambers tonight nine o'clock. Make sure that both the members of the faculty and the students do not see you come there. Do not tell anyone what you have seen."   
  
"I understand."   
  
"What I have to discuss with you is a matter that is between the two of us and is to be told to nobody else. Do I make myself clear?" the aura of power around Vicious increased as he spoke these words.   
  
"Yes it is crystal clear. I do believe that we both have classes that we need to attend to. I look forward to seeing you later," his voice was calm and collected but he could not help but be awed and frightened at the same time.   
  
As the day wore on Severus Snape could only marvel at what the students seemed to know. It seemed as though the second years as well were above their level and it implied that the same would be true for all of the other years of students. Meanwhile Vicious had to work very hard not to fall asleep since he was alone in class and he also had to think of what he was going to tell the potions master. Snape had trusted him enough to not tell the headmaster and if Dumbledore knew about what had happened or what he had taught the kids then he would be in some very serious trouble. Finally he decided that he would answer the questions truthfully when the time came. Athena had helped him with this decision since she seemed to hate all of the others in some form or another.   
  
Dinner that night was a common occurrence. It seemed as though word had spread to the other houses about that Professor Bromista had decided to let them out of the classroom early as well as tell them that there was going to be a quiz on Friday over the first several chapters which were fairly easy. The other professors were not as blinded as the students when it came to the class being easy and they had their suspicions that something was up. Vicious left dinner that night and headed directly to his chambers. He was supposed to have Severus Snape over tonight and needed to make sure that certain things were hidden (namely, his swords that he had hung on his wall) so the potions master would not be so suspicious.   
  
Severus Snape left shortly after Vicious to head to his own rooms. His curiosity seemed to rise by the minute when he thought about what he had seen. At last he was going to get the answers to his questions. Still he had to be very sneaky about getting there. In Hogwarts it was knowledge that if a student needed help from their head of house that the professor was most likely to be located in their chambers. Yet tonight he would not be in his chambers until late and he could not leave a note saying that he had went to visit Bromista when no one was supposed to know about it. Add to that the possibility that he might be seen and tailed by the little brats or the teachers and he had some serious thinking to do. He would have to find a way to get there without being noticed and since it was only an hour before he was supposed to be there he had no hopes of making an invisibility potion. If only he had Potter's invisibility cloak. That bloody thing would come in handy at a time like this. Disillusionment charms were known to brake but as long as he watched himself and nobody looked were he stood expecting to see him then it would hold up. At least that is what he hoped.   
  
At fifteen minutes until nine there was a knock on the frame of the noble warrior Athed. Smiling to himself at the impatience of the greasy haired man he told the painting to let the man in. The portrait opened and then closed having allowed the entrance of the visitor. Snape appeared out of thin air when he removed the Disillusionment charm. He was never known for his charm work but the spell had survived all the way here and he was not noticed by anyone.   
  
"Athed please do not let anyone else in and if we have another visitor tell them that I am quite busy unless they say that it is a dire emergency," spoke Vicious while the portrait of Athed nodded his head and then returned to the other side of the painting from whence he came. The portrait was what one would call a double sided portrait and thus the character that was in it could move from one side of the painting to the other if they wished. However these portraits did not allow for them to leave the painting to visit another or have another character visit them so Athed talked to Vicious sometimes when he was truly bored.   
  
Taking a seat on the black sofa Severus Snape waited for Vicious to say something else.  
  
"I see that you have already made yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?" Snape nodded his head but was still a little distrusting as it might have been poisoned.   
  
Vicious walked over to a large cabinet. Opening it he took out a bottle of Ogden's Fire Whiskey and two glasses. After pouring both of the classes full he replaced the bottle as well was closed the cabinet before he made his way back over to the potions master and offered him a drink.   
  
Snape eyed it warily and then decided that it would be a better idea to wait for Vicious to drink from his first. Glancing around he thought that these rooms were fairly nice as well.  
  
Sitting down in a comfortable armchair Vicious looked at Snape and commented, "I didn't poison it. Here watch," then proceeded to take a sip of the substance. Severus noticed this as well and took a sip of his while delighting in the strong flavor that it possessed, "You do realize however that if I were trying to poison you then I would not have put the poison in the bottle of whiskey but on the inside of the glass."   
  
As Severus paled even further than his naturally sallow skin would allow, Vicious could not stand it anymore and burst out laughing. This just put the potions maker into an even fouler mood.   
  
"You really do not think that I would poison you, do you?" as Vicious said this his eyes were twinkling in mirth and his lip was quirking a little as he suppressed laughter once again.   
  
"You are a bloody bastard," scowled Snape.   
  
"I was only playing around. You need to lighten up more and not take everything so seriously."   
  
Several minutes later the foul tempered man had finally calmed down and he took another drink of the whiskey only to realize afterward that if he really had been drugged that he had done it to himself again. 'What the hell,' he thought as he took another sip.   
  
"I realize that you came here for answers so that is what you are going to receive. Ask away," spoke Vicious as he leaned back in the chair and took another drink.   
  
"First off why did you teach those students what you did? I know that you did it on purpose and I am thoroughly curious as to your motivations."   
  
"The reason that I taught them was that they needed to know it."   
  
"Why do they need to know it?"   
  
"It is simple. Voldemort is back and these kids need to know how to defend themselves. The sixth year needs this knowledge in particular since they are the ones that will shape the next generation and have a major part in whatever is to come. Harry Potter when he attended this school was in fifth year as are many influential people. Soon they will be making decisions on their own and I would like for them to be prepared."   
  
Snape nodded his head at this reasoning. He realized that this was true and that it would fall on the shoulders of the sixth year class. In the end it was better for them to be over prepared than to not be prepared at all, "Why did not they know what a Gluss was?"   
  
"I never taught them the basics. They have the advanced learning that will count when the time comes but they do not have the knowledge of the little things."   
  
"I know that you are very powerful so I was wondering why it seems that I am the only one who has noticed it."   
  
"It is simple really. The others see what they want to see and most of the time I keep the feeling of power that spreads from me to a minimum. The students expect to see a 'teacher from hell' and the staff expects to see an 'insensitive and egotistical jerk.' You on the other hand do not expect me to be either of these so you are not blinded by your mind like the others are."   
  
That was a shocker. This brought up another question, "Why do you see me for what I am instead of a 'greasy bastard?'"   
  
"I do not know. We are alike you and I. There is more to us than meets the eye and others do not see it unless we allow them to. Even then we do not allow them to see the whole picture before their eyes only bits and pieces."   
  
"Don't presume to think that you know me you prick. You have no idea what I have been through!" the obviously inebriated Snape replied.   
  
"You are right I do not know what you have been through but I do know what I have been through and we act alike. Our lives have not been picnics but we grin and bare it."   
  
"THAT is the main question that I want to find out about you. Where do you come from? How can you do that with shadows? Is Vicious Bromista your real name?"   
  
Vicious looked down at his glass of whiskey and swirled it a little in the glass. Should he really tell him? Could he trust him? There was only one way to find out.   
  
"I will tell you. The best place to start is the beginning so I will start when I was contacted by the Syndicate."   
  
"What is the Syndicate?" Snape asked as he sat down his glass and leaned forward to pay attention after casting a spell so that his mind would clear from the effects of the alcohol.   
  
"Please do not interrupt me. The Syndicate is a secret organization that is made up of the absolute best wizards and witches of the time. They do not crave the spotlight or the fame they only want there to be peace and balance in the world. If one government gets too strong they take it down a notch and if one wizard/witch gains too much power then they do the same. Battles have been fought and won for centuries due to them yet only several of their members actually became famous. I seem to have gotten a little off track. Let us continue. At first I was a little apprehensive about joining them but I came around because I needed power. I do not know if they know my real name or not but I suspect that they do. I received training and I excelled quickly. I am now sixteen though inside I feel as though I am in my thirties or forties. After leaving their headquarters I trained by myself and in the last stretch of my training I found out that I could control shadows if I tried hard enough."   
  
Severus Snape was flabbergasted at hearing the tale. That is until he heard the part about the shadows, "That is IMPOSSIBLE!"   
  
Sighing ruefully at the rude interruption, Vicious continued, "It should be impossible and I am not sure how it came about. One day I was watching flames and looking at the flickering shadows and I somehow willed them to do what I wanted them to. It took me months to learn how to control this ability and even now I find that I can not control everything about them."  
  
"Who all are members of the Syndicate?"  
  
"I do not know all of them and I cannot tell you any of their names as it is strictly forbidden. The world is not meant to know about them and those that have accidentally stumbled upon the truth have met horrible consequences if they told anyone else and word spread. We try to create a better world by letting them be ignorant that we exist."  
  
The greasy bastard thought about this for several moments before asking the next question, "Why did you come to Hogwarts?"  
  
"I happen to be the wizard that is to monitor this area. Watching the students is an easy way to find out who has the potential to join us and we learn all about there habits and values. Creating an extensive file on each of the students has been a little difficult but now I could tell you everything from their habits to their favorite brand of underwear. Plus I just missed the place."  
  
Something seemed to click in the potion master's mind, "You've been here before?"  
  
"Yes. I was a student here. In fact you used to know me and hate my guts with a passion."  
  
"What is your name?" Snape asked with a little apprehension.  
  
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Harry Potter."  
  
IMPORTANT  
  
I am sorry that this chapter is out a little late. College work has increased to the point where I am almost going INSANE. It doesn't help that my major is in computer programming and by the end of the day I can hardly stand to look at one after having to work on them since I wake up. Midterms are coming up soon, add to that a big, BIG test on Monday for my Software Maintenance class and I have been pushing myself to the limit. To make matters worse I haven't had a decent nights sleep for nearly a week now. The next chapter should be out as soon as I can find some time to type (maybe next weekend or sometime the week after that).  
  
I am sorry about the mistakes that I made in previous chapters when I mentioned Neville being in the fifth year class. As the story goes he is in his sixth year class, so anywhere you see fifth year change it to sixth as well as changing the O.W.L.S to the sixth year exams. Plus, while I'm at it, another teacher talks to the Slytherin house when Snape goes to the hospital wing since Vicious never talks to the slytherins. Forgive me for these small errors and I will try to pay better attention in the future.  
  
Thanks to: DarkWolfyOne, JCKIDSMART, Arizosa, Anilia, Shadow Wolf, lordanhur, Bosson12787, Phoenix Lumen, Maxx77, Mikey Correia, FellowshipInc., Jake Koontz, and Rob.  
  
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	11. Betrayal

THE SYNDICATE  
  
BY: Bolt Lightning  
  
DISCLAIMER: The same as always with a little appetizer on the side.  
  
NOTES: I am sorry that this chapter is out a little late. I had wanted to put it out sometime over the break but I never found the time to work on it. My time was devoted mostly to my girlfriend and as there was a local fair at the end of the week that she had never attended we ended up going to it as well. Please forgive me for this travesty. The tests are over and I really want to continue this story. Once again I am sorry for the wait. Enjoy.  
  
CHAPTER 11  
  
THE BETRAYAL  
  
Severus Snape could not believe what he was hearing and fell forward face first out of his chair to land on the floor in an undignified heap. Gathering himself back together he climbed back into his seat and turned to look at Vicious who had now removed his sunglasses. The emerald eyes that bore into his own black pools were very similar to him and he could see the mirth in them. Lily Evans used to have these same eyes. These were the eyes of her son.  
  
"Potter?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Never could avoid being the center of attention could you Potter?" spat Snape as he returned to his normal attitude toward his former student.  
  
"Oh shut up you greasy git. I am not a student of yours any more and you could damn well remember the conversation that we have just had. Did I sound like my father? Do I look like my father?"  
  
The wisps of hatred toward his old rival in school began to leave his head as though someone had turned on a fan. He had not looked past the boy's image to what lied underneath always assuming that the kid was like his father and would soak up the attention like a sponge, "I was wrong."  
  
"Do not worry I forgive you. If Draco Malfoy had a kid that attended school that looked exactly like him then I would probably do the same thing that you have done. You had to secure your place with the children of the Death Eaters and if you did not then your life would have been forfeit. So you definitely had to hate the proclaimed vanquisher of the dark lord and it was just an added bonus that it happened to be me."  
  
Several moments of awkward silence passed between the pair of professors. Each was wrapped up in their own thoughts and both wanted the other to be the first one to speak. Snape was the one that broke the ice.  
  
"Just wondering but did you have anything to do with what happened to the Malfoy's?"  
  
"What would you say if I did?"  
  
"I would pat you on the back and offer to buy you a round of drinks. I could never stand the smarmy bastard myself. They always got what they wanted because their family was loaded to the gills with money. All of them deserved what they got and it was only a matter of time before the sins of their past came back to haunt them."  
  
"Then I would like to thank you for complementing my work. Anything that I could do to bring them from their pedestal and their noses from the air was my pleasure. When the aurors came in here I just about burst out laughing. The look on that bastard's face when he was found with that book was priceless. I wish I had my camera."  
  
Both of them were laughing now. If someone had mentioned to either of the at the end of the fourth year that they would be sitting here right now joking around with each other that person would have ended up in the Lost Causes ward at St. Mungos. Yet here they were.  
  
"What ever happened to the money that was in those vaults? I know for a fact that they had galleons coming out of their asses and the Daily Prophet said that roughly seventy five percent of their money was gone."  
  
"I did what was the most decent thing that I could ever do with that type of money. That money was appropriated through blood shed and dark dealings. What better way to get rid of it than to give it away?"  
  
"You gave it away?!" roared Severus Snape in denial. One would have to be very stupid to give away that amount of money to someone else no matter how they came about control of it.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Who did you give it to and what in the hell possessed you to do something like that?" He knew that Potter acted as though he was born without a brain at times but this definitely took precedence over everything else.  
  
"It is not up to you to decide what I should have done with the money as it was not you that had possession of it. I could have ran away to some tropical island and lived out the rest of my days in style but then I would always have to worry about Voldemort. People would die if I just left deciding that it was not my cross to bear. Or I could have just saved the money for retirement after finally defeating Voldemort but the fact of the matter is that I doubt that I will live to see the end of this war and if I did then there would be no way that I could feel pleasure as I thought about what happened to everyone that I once knew and all that I had lost. No. So I did what was the most appropriate thing to do with the money. I gave seventy percent of it away as charity. A lot of it went to places like St. Mungos to help them with their research while some even went to child services to make sure that abused children get the help that they need to cope with life."  
  
As Vicious said this a sad smile appeared on his face as though he were talking about his own life. Severus knew that the boy grew up abused. Maybe not physically but mentally and that was all the same if not worse. It took a lot more to heal injuries of the mind than to heal the injuries of the body.  
  
"That was a very noble thing to do with the money. I may not have done the same thing if I had been in your shoes. More than likely I would have taken the money and split. But after a while I reckon that I would have returned because my conscience would have gotten the best of me.You said that you gave seventy percent of it to charity. What did you do with the other five percent?"  
  
A mischievous grin shown on Vicious Bromista's face, "It was as you have already said. The Malfoy's may have been arrogant pricks but they had money coming out of their asses. Five percent of their total fortune is one hell of a lot of money. I would say that it was roughly thirty thousand pounds. Since I spent nearly ten thousand to purchase my familiar Athena I had spent nearly all of the money that I had appropriated over the last year."  
  
"You spent ten thousand galleons on a pet!!?"  
  
"No. I spent nine thousand six hundred and ninety galleons on her."  
  
"What type of a pet is it that you would actually be willing to pay that much money?"  
  
To answer that question Vicious simply let out a series of whistles varying in pitch as well as length. Severus watched as a beautiful phoenix that was absolutely one of a kind flew into the room and knew immediately now why the foolhardy Gryffindor would pay so much as he himself would pay it in an instant if he could afford it.  
  
"This is Athena, my ice phoenix and familiar. She sang the bonding song when we first met and I knew then and there that I had to get her no matter what means that I had to go to. I would have even stolen her if the pet shop refused to part with her."  
  
Professor Snape watched as the young man opposite him set idly stroking the phoenixes head as it leaned into the touch enjoying it. One question struck him though.  
  
"Where and how did you get that much money?"  
  
"I happened upon it when I was staying on a volcanic island. I was walking along one day when I just happened to stumble along a vein of gold."  
  
"You found a vein of gold! How much money did you get?!"  
  
"I found out that it was worth nearly two million galleons."  
  
"You are talking about that amount of money as though it came along every day! What did you spend all of that money on?"  
  
"One thing that I did was I bought the island. It was a large island and it cost me half of the money. The rest of it went to building a mansion on the island, making sure that it would not erupt, and setting up wards and precautions to keep people away from it unless they are invited by me to go there and know its exact location."  
  
"You are telling me that you own your own island that only you know about and only you could find?"  
  
"That is it in a nutshell."  
  
"Why would you even want the island if you already found all of the gold? Unless you think that there is more there."  
  
"There may be more gold. Of that I am uncertain. What I did want was a place to disappear to and retire after all of this is business with Voldemort is said and done. Nothing is better than a little relaxation on a tropical island where you know that you will not be disturbed."  
  
"You said earlier that you would not go to some tropical island and live out the rest of your days in style."  
  
"You misunderstood me. What I meant was that I could go to a tropical island and live out the rest of my days in style but I would not ENJOY it. I will still remember everything and everyone that I have lost. The only thing that might give me the slightest bit of joy is the prospect of asking Sirius and Remus to come live there with me."  
  
"Don't you know about what happened?" Severus asked with sorrow on his face and in his eyes.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I thought that you knew. Sirius and Remus are both dead."  
  
"They are what!?" Harry let out an anguished cry.  
  
"Sirius was investigating some unexplained happenings in the department of mysteries. Someone had been trying to break in but they had been unsuccessful in doing so. Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' cousin, fought with Remus and killed him using a spell that infused his blood with silver. Silver is lethal to a werewolf and he died within five minutes. Your godfather attacked her in a rage after that. He had lost everyone that he held dear to him after your disappearance and the death of Remus. Lestrange cast the killing curse at him while Sirius tried to disarm her. Their spells met in midair. Normally the killing curse would have overridden any other spell but there was such fury behind the expelliarmus that they both reflected on their owners. Bellatrix is dead at the hands of her own curse. Black flew back through the veil of the dead to never return again as it is a one way portal to the afterlife."  
  
Harry's eyes were shining with unshed tears. He had been away at the time training and he never thought to ask anyone about anything that had happened. Sirius was dead because of him. If he had been there then padfoot might not have exploded in the rage that he did and would still be here today. Why had he left in the first place other than to learn how to protect everyone that he held dear? Yet he had lost the closest thing that he had to a father and an uncle in his absence. The Dursley's never really were his family and now he had lost all chance and hope of having one. What was the point of living if he lost everything? What was the point of it all?  
  
Professor Severus Snape made his way to his chambers after that. He did not even care that he was not using a disillusionment charm or that he could have been easily seen. Harry had never known what had happened to his godfather or the werewolf. Fudge had refused the claims made that Voldemort and his merry men were back. When the events in the Department of Mysteries took place that night he had still refused to acknowledge it claiming that it had been the mastermind work of Sirius Black and his right hand Bellatrix Lestrange that had killed Remus and raided the place that night. Since there was no body of Black's they could not prove the he was dead. Lupin was not even granted the proper funeral that he had merited but was instead buried in a pauper's grave all because he was a werewolf. He had not mentioned this to Vicious as it would only fuel the empty void his loss brought him with anger. After feeling his power first hand Severus knew that an angry Vicious Bromista a.k.a. Harry Potter was not a good thing.  
  
Meanwhile on the rolling valleys in the state of Montana in the United States of America things were about to heat up. Shalesville is the name of the town. With only a population of roughly one thousand the town and its inhabitants were not that interested in the outside world. Most of their economy was made through the ranches that they farmed and the livestock that was raised. All of the ranches looked roughly the same but if one were to look even closer they might have been able to tell the difference when inspecting to one ranch in particular. On the outside it looked as any other ranch in the area did. The strange thing was that you hardly ever saw anyone outside tending the grounds. Nobody was seen entering or leaving the house at all. However the strangest thing by far was that noone that lived in this small neighborhood seemed to notice. It was almost as though this house never even existed. Inside the house sit fourteen of the members of the Syndicate. These members were the powerful heads that protected the lands and countries that they were assigned to. Each of these members had established powerful contacts over the years that allowed them insight into literally any branch of the government or the military. World domination was not their desire; it was world piece and productivity.  
  
"Usually we would gather during the night to discuss these matters but it is urgent that they be discussed now. Word has spread about a new evil that has allied itself with Lord Voldemort. This meeting is to discuss what to do about this situation," the eldest member and the leader of the group spoke. Nodding his head toward the russian representative he returned to his seat as the red haired woman who went by the name of Jade stood to begin her speech.  
  
"The rise of this new evil has been on the way for some time now. Most of you have reported strange happenings in your countries. Whether they be artifacts of high significance or ingredients for dangerous potions, we have all noticed the turn of the wind. Spike, who cannot be with us today because he has other important business to attend to, has told us about several of these artifacts. What makes these artifacts so dangerous is that when they are coupled with the others they great a magical amplifier the likes of which the world has only seen once before. In the time of the great Mylin himself a highly experienced craftsmen gathered a team of individuals. Together they made the gauntlet for Merlin thinking that it would help him along his way to defeat his enemies. Shortly thereafter it was stolen in transit to Merlin's castle. What the craftsmen failed to overlook was overexposure to the gauntlet. If a person wears it for an extended period of time they slowly loose their grip on sanity and reality. Several years later the gauntlet was purchased by a young wizard who thought that it would look perfect on him. Over the span of a year his mind was warped beyond repair and his power was amlified a hundred fold that of a normal wizard. He became one of the first dark lords. Mylin fought this wizard in a battle to end all battles. Our founder won the battle but knew that he would perish. He had used too much energy. Using the little that was left he tore the gauntlet into several pieces. As long as they remained seperated the world would never have to face such a terror again. He sent those remaining to spread the pieces all over the world while he kept one small piece hidden himself. The pinky finger is the only piece this new lord has not collected. We have this piece in our possession."  
  
Finishing her tale she laid the small piece of metal in the middle of the table. Another member of the group stood up to talk.  
  
"Now that you mention it there has been talk in Australia about a group that calls themselves the red dragons. The have stole materials that are used to put together broken magical metals. If this is the new evil that you are talking about then the only thing that is standing in their way is us."  
  
Brash the elderly leader nodded his head, "It is as I feared then. We must keep this last piece from them at all costs. If they were to get there hands on it then the whole world is in peril. Whoever is leading them knows the tale about the gauntlet and has went to extremes to gather the pieces. They will attack us if they know we have it. So we should keep the knowledge of our posession to ourselves."  
  
"Now onto other matters. Voldemort is once more causing a problem and it only adds fuel to the fire that he has a new allie. Should we help Vicious Bromista with his quest to vanquish his parents murderer? Should we help Harry Potter? Ever since he joined we have known the secret about his identity. The last time that Lord Voldemort arose we scurried away and hid ourselves like cowards. We were cowards. Now that he is back we need to decide if we should fight or lay down and die. All those in favor of fighting Voldemort?"  
  
"Aye!"  
  
"All opposed?"  
  
"...."  
  
"Then it is decided. Thank you for coming today..." Brash never finished his sentence. Several pops indicated that they were not alone anymore. Looking around the room he noticed that they were surrounded and severely outnumbered by figures in dark red cloaks. The leader of the group was obvious since he wore a blood red cloak. All of them had their hoods up along with spells that kept it so dark that identification was impossible.  
  
"I would like to thank you for you hospitality in keeping the last piece of the gauntlet safe for me. My Dragons told me that you had it in your posession but I just had to come and see for myself." What puzzled the members of the Syndicate the most was that the voice of this man sounded oddly familiar though they could not seem to place it.  
  
Brash knocked the mans hand away before he could even touch it, "What makes you think that we are going to let you get anywhere near it?"  
  
"You won't even let one of your friends look at it?" was the mans response. All of a sudden it clicked in the minds of those present.  
  
"KILL THEM ALL MY DRAGONS!" the leader thundered as he grabbed the pinky and apperated away before the others could come to their senses. The fight that insued was largely one sided. Although the Red Dragons had more to there number and were fairly skilled they were still on the defensive as the experienced members of the Syndicate fought back. It seemed as though they were going to win until all of the dragons were portkeyed away. Only one man was left standing against them now. The one man who had fled before was back wearing a gauntlet that would make the devil himself quake in his boots.  
  
The man lowered his hood with a sadistic smile on his face.  
  
"Prepare to die."  
  
None stood a chance as they stood in his way. The amplifying powers of the gauntlet made his extraordinary powers amplified to a point where any muggle watching would have considered him something short of a god. Dead bodies laid strewn across the floor seeping pools of blood onto the white marble and only one of them still had the ability to move a breath. Brash knew that this was over and that he was going to die. The power was just too much. Focusing as much power as he could he apperated away leaving the man in blood red laughing his head off in demonic pleasure.  
  
Brash appeared shortly thereafter to warn those who would fight against Voldemort. He had to drag himself toward his goal with every last ounce of strength that he had as his blood left a trail on the road beneath his feet. They should have fled when they had the chance but none of the members would have been able to forgive themselves. During the time of Voldemort's first reign many years ago they hid and it still weighed on their minds. Knowing that his time was up in this world he had one last mission that he had to see carried out.  
  
Opening the door to the castle before him he happened to see the face of the man that he was looking for. It was early in the morning here and this man was obviously one of the first ones up. His power faded and he fell to the ground in a heap and heard someone rush to his side. Being turned over he looked into the eyes of a friend and began his objective.  
  
"Syndicate...dead...Spike betrayed...kill....him..." His body relaxed in the young mans arms and his eyes lost all signs of life in them. He was gone.  
  
A howl of pure unadulterated rage resounded through the castle. Severus Snape had happened to walk into the front hallway at that time and this was the first time in a long time that he had come close to wetting himself at the sight before him. Standing there free of all of his magical restraints and wraithed by shadows that seemed to have a life of their own was none other than Vicious. It seemed as though Snape had been mistaken after he caught the power that shown in Bromista's eyes as his sunglasses lay in shards on the floor and a warm trickle went down his leg making a yellow puddle on the floor.  
  
***Ducks the flying Tomatoes and frying pans***  
  
I am sorry for writing this chapter the way that I have but it needed to be done. Sirius died in the sixth book and I just had no place for writing them into the story arc. Please forgive me :(  
  
Thanks to all of those that have read and reviewed my story as well as all of the readers that I have had that never reviewed. Thank you and I hope that you will continue reading my story into the future. BoltLightning  
  
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	12. Discoveries

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Cowboy Bebop nor have I had anything to do with the production, creation, or the distribution of said products. I am but a humble fan that cannot help to curve his fantasies by creating a different story by which I have no intention or means to make any profit of.  
  
Notes: It is Monday and I have just gotten out of my TQM class. What I cannot understand for the life of me is why someone who has a major in computers would have to take a business course. TQM stands for Total Quality Management and in case you did not know I am almost dead to the world right now. Here is the chapter and I hope that it is not too bad. You will have to wait until chapter fourteen for some real live action but things will heat up.  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Discoveries  
  
Vicious looked at the dead body that lay before him. He did not know that he had screamed out his rage and his frustration. He did not know that the bonds that he wore had broken. What he did know was that this was a friend that had been killed by someone that he had trusted like a brother. Why would Spike do something like this? From the time that they had spent together in America he knew that Spike cared very deeply about those that he had valued. Yet now that he looked back on it the smiles that he wore always seemed a little bit forced and he was very quick to anger if something did not go his way. But why did he have to kill his friends? What type of a bastard could do something like this? Spike could block the Imperious curse just like him so Vicious knew that was not it. Now that he saw the evidence of betrayal and pure hatred that lay before him he knew that Spike's heart must be black.  
  
Severus was watching Vicious with a critical eye. When the man had looked up at him he acted as though he was looking right through him and he had looked back at the body that lie on the ground. He did not even notice that Snape had wet himself and he did not hear the footsteps that were quickly approaching. Time just seemed to stop for Harry Potter as though it did not matter.  
  
"You have to get out of here!" Snape whispered as loud as he dare as he pointed his wand at the floor and his own leg to make it look as though he had not just totally lost his composure. Seeing as his whisper meant nothing he reached out and shook his shoulder to bring Vicious out of his daze.  
  
"Get out of here! People are coming and it will not look good if they find you here! Most of the faculty does not trust you and the students hate you. Go now while you still have time!"  
  
Vicious nodded his head and took off running down the hall at full speed and he did not look back. He turned several corridors as he headed for the security his chambers where he could calm himself down and think about this reasonably. Too many emotions were running through his head right now and he knew that he could make a grave mistake. The sound of approaching footsteps on the corridor in front of him said to him that he would not be able to get to his rooms. Yet get there he must, as it was the safest place for him to be at the moment. Looking down himself he realized that his bonds had given way. How could he have done that? They should have required a password to release them but the spells that were held on them had shattered as though they were made of nothing at all. Unless his power had grown while he was not looking. But that was impossible since he had not trained himself at all during his time here. oh well he would just have to ponder on that later after he repaired them.  
  
Doing the only thing that he was able to do without getting caught he shifted into a blob of shadows. Moving at a rapid speed along the ceiling since this form was more draining he made his way over the heads of the students and toward his chambers. Luckily he had met nobody else after that incident and before he knew it he was safely seeping into his rooms where his phoenix could heal him. The only thought on his tired mind right now was 'I hope to god they cancel the lessons for today.'  
  
Meanwhile during the time that Vicious had shifted into his shadow form and was cleverly avoiding the students Severus Snape was standing in the front hall waiting for whomever that was coming to arrive there already. In nearly no time at all the professor's McGonagall and Dumbledore were by his side and looking into the crater that contained the dead body as students were kept at bay by the Hagrid as Sinestra ran to the infirmary to gather Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"What happened here Severus? It looks like one of those Muggle bamookahs (A/N: bazookas) was fired at the floor," Dumbledore asked with a sad yet thoughtful expression on his face.  
  
"I do not know Albus. After hearing that god awful screaming I ran here as fast as I could but I found it just like it is right now. You do not have any thoughts on who or what caused that racket?"  
  
"Unfortunately I also have no idea what caused our abrupt awakening. All I know is that there is a dead body lying in the middle of the entrance hall inside of a crater that is about six feet deep. For all I know it could have been that guy that screamed like that. Poppy will help us with what killed him though and we may be able to determine who he is so that we can notify his next of kin."  
  
Minerva stayed quiet as she heard all of this and did not think that she would be able to comment. After all it was taking all of her self-restraint not to vomit on the floor from seeing such an amount of blood. Opening her mouth to agree with the others she was interrupted by the appearance of a flustered Sinestra and an inquisitive Poppy Pomfrey.  
  
"What happened Albus?"  
  
Severus interrupted her with, "Take a damn look in front of you woman! What do you think happened? It was just some muggle ringing the doorbell trying to sell us some homemade wind chimes!?"  
  
The others just gave him a look that showed he had been around the headmaster for way too long. Snape just muttered, 'Well it happened to me once. Never did figure out how that bloody salesman got through the muggle repelling charms.'  
  
Upon noticing the cadavre Madam Pomfrey immediately looked as though someone had died. Well, someone had died and even though she did not know their identity she could tell that it was done in a gruesome way. Trelawny had been sent to follow the trail of blood before and now she had returned.  
  
"It ends just outside of the apparition wards. You do not think that he made his way up here alone before collapsing where he is right now do you?"  
  
"My opinion is that he was chased here. Probably he came to seek protection from whoever was chasing him but the murderer finished the job before we arrived. The scream that we heard was more than likely this last man's breath. Tell the students to go back to their dormitories and to not come this way today. There are also no classes as we need to search for any clues as to the killers identity. I want Poppy and Minerva to cover the body with a sheet and take it to the infirmary. You can figure out the cause of death and the man's identity there."  
  
All of the professors which included Hagrid nodded their heads at this. However Severus Snape felt as though this was a bad idea. If there were any traces that either he or Bromista had been here when the sound had occured then they would both be in serious trouble. The Azkaban with out a trial or the dementor's kiss type of trouble.  
  
Looking around he noticed something that he had forgotten about. The broken remains of the sunglasses still lay on the floor where they had been before. It was too late now to get rid of them with Dumbledore hanging around. No one could harm the crime scene and he knew that the old man would not give up on his watch until some Ministry specialists were here. It would take them a while to identify the shards. Hopefully they would take several days so that Harry would be able to get away from this school.  
  
Athena had just completed her duty of healing her master from his loss of energy. It was lucky that he had this trouble so far away from her next freezing day. He was in very bad shape before she helped and she would always be there for her master and her friend until the very end. The humans did not know that if a human bonds with a phoenix then once a human dies their soul is carried to the heavens by their faithful companion where a new star is born in their memory before they go on to the afterlife. She just hoped that it would be a long time before this came to pass.  
  
A knock on the frame of their portrait interrupted the phoenixes silent musings. Vicious called out for whoever the hell it was to just enter already and was not too surprised to see the potions master standing before him.  
  
"How are things?"  
  
"Allright I guess. Are you going to make those bonds of yours again? After all it is a bit noticeable with those shadows moving around you like they are alive."  
  
"Yes I am going to make those restraints again. The students would start calling me the devil incarnated if they saw me like this and more than one of them would wet themselves. Imagine grown teenagers wetting themselves. It is as funny as hell. It would be a lot faster if you would help me make them so it would not take all damn day."  
  
"Do not worry I will help you. What do we have to do to make the darn things? Just put some spells on them?" Severus asked while blatantly leaving out the fact that he had wet himself. He doubted that any sane person could have seen his eyes like he was then and not have the urge to soil one's underpants.  
  
"Yes it is only just a couple of spells. However they have to be placed on each band five times and I am wearing four bands. Make that six times a piece and add to that the fact that there are twenty spells in total and you have a lot of work to do."  
  
As they got to work Snape could only think 'This is going to be a lot harder than I first thought.'  
  
Nearly three hours and four hundred and eighty spells later they were finally finished. Harry slipped them back on and immediately the shadows that had gathered around him began to disappear. He could not help but smile thinking that this had definitely went faster than he had thought.  
  
"I hate to interrupt your moment of piece but you have a bit of trouble."  
  
"What do you mean I have a bit of trouble? I am going to find the guy that betrayed us and exact my revenge for the innocent lives that he has taken. He poses no threat to me with the power that I possess right now. Nobody save you knows about it."  
  
"Betrayed?"  
  
"I am the last honorable member of the Syndicate alive. The man who trained me there was named Spike. He betrayed us all and killed all of the members there. Why he would do such a thing and the reason for the meeting I fear that I will never know. All I know is that it was that dead man in the entrance halls last wish for revenge and he shall have it no matter what the cost."  
  
"I did not know that this had happened. I arrived at the scene after I heard you scream. That is not the problem that I speak of though. This problem has to do with the your sunglasses or the remains there of."  
  
Raising his hand to feel unobstructed bridge of his nose Vicious stated, "I never even realized that they were gone. They were tented to keep people from seeing my eyes and to be feather light. You know that if someone who had spent a long time with me saw my eyes that they might start asking questions. What happened to the glasses anyway?"  
  
"You left them laying in the crater along with the dead body. I figure that you have three or four days at the most. If you run now then they will automatically come after you and hunt you down. Your best bet would be to wait until the very last day possible and force your way out if need be."  
  
Vicious nodded his head at this. He knew that he was already a possible suspect for the death of the man but what really worried him was what they would ask him when they found out Brash's identity. The workings of the Syndicate were to stay in the Syndicate and even Snape did not know all of the truth behind their history. Many had been executed for doing their work and helping others. The fact that one could even survive to be the age of Brash was astronomical.  
  
Shortly after that he and Snape parted their ways to head to their own offices. Anybody could show up looking for them and it would be wise to maintain a low profile by staying business oriented. Severus was going to grade some papers while Harry was going to try to think of an escape plan.  
  
In the hospital wing Albus Dumbledore immediately rushed into the ward after Minerva McGonagall came running to get him.  
  
"What is wrong Poppy? Have you discovered who he is yet?"  
  
"I know what the spells and the records say buy I can not believe it."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because he is dead!" screamed Poppy.  
  
"Calm down. Of course he is dead. After all he is laying on the table in front of you," spoke the voice of reason that belonged to the headmaster.  
  
"That is not what I mean. I meant that he has been dead for nearly fifty years."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"His name is Brash Dakota and he has been dead for nearly fifty years. At one time he was a worker in the department of mysteries for the WWWA (World Wide Wizards Alliance which is made up of the top members of all of the wizarding governments) but he was one of the first ones killed by Lord Voldemort. The records state that on June the twelfth he was killed during a minor skirmish. He had no family and no relatives."  
  
"Then you must have performed the spell wrong."  
  
"I have used the spell ten times and each time it states that this is the man's name and he has the same magical signature as the ones on this record."  
  
"Move out of the way and I will cast the spell myself then," spoke Dumbledore as he cast the spell. Seeing everything clearly matched the records he fell with a thump into the chair beside the bed.  
  
"What could this all mean? Someone who has been dead for fifty years just does not show up out of the blue," said Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"I have no clue what this means but I am going to find out. We found some samples that we are going to send off to get tested. Within three to four days we will know whoever it was that was there and then we will receive the answers to our questions."  
  
(A/N: The samples that he is talking about are the shards of the sunglasses. There is nothing else.)  
  
Later on that evening after having breakfast, lunch, and dinner delivered to the common rooms Hermione Granger could not stand it any more. She wanted answers and she had not scene any professor since that morning when she was told with the rest of the student body to go to their common rooms and wait. Most of the students were happy playing wizard chess or exploding snap but she would not be satisfied until she found out what was happening. Even reading her books could not take her mind off of it's inquisitive track. Only one of the professors would tell her the truth and even though nobody particularly liked him he was the only hope. So when she saw her chance she snuck out of the common room and made her way toward the office of the defense professor.  
  
Upon reaching his office she was lucky to find him when she did as he was locking the door and heading to his chambers for the night.  
  
"Hello Professor Bromista. Can we talk?" Vicious turned around when he heard her talk and she stared straight into his gorgeous green eyes. Why he would ever want to cover up those emerald pools was beyond her. She could not help but feel a spark of familiarity. Shaking herself she noticed that he had just finished saying something and had a look of concern on his face.  
  
"Excuse me. I was lost in thought. What did you say?"  
  
"I asked you if you were alright. Five minutes now I have been trying to get your attention. You worried me. We can talk on the way to my chambers. So what did you want to talk about?"  
  
"I just wanted to know what happened today and why we are not allowed out of our common rooms."  
  
Vicious explained to her the details of what he had heard during the meals. He was lucky that nobody thought that it was suspicious that he suddenly stopped wearing his glasses and for that he was happy. It would be good to avoid suspicion while he could.  
  
After finishing listening to the tale Hermione could rightly say that she speechless. There could be a murderer on Hogwarts grounds and she would never know. Why they did not tell the students she could rightly understand. A mass panic would ensue and there would be major fights. She continued walking alongside the silver haired teen until they reached the portrait of Athed.  
  
Vicious leaned forward and whispered the password so she could not hear it. After all he was on many of the student's hit lists and if they had the chance to trash his rooms they would.  
  
"Goodnight Ms. Granger. Hermione."  
  
As he began to enter the room he could not help but think how much he would miss her. He had began to look forward to seeing her every day as she was not nearly as mean as everyone else. Vicious thought 'What would it be like to kiss her? Oh......what the hell.'  
  
Hermione definitely was not expecting the teacher that she had secret fantasies about to turn around abruptly and kiss her on the lips. At first she was stunned and did not react but a second later she was returning the kiss with as much passion as she could. The pair backed up into Harry's chambers and the portrait closed leaving the smiling face of Athed.  
  
HA, HA, HA!! How did you like the chapter? I found that it was very good. Not any fighting but there were a lot of discoveries thus the name. The little tidbit at the end between Harry and Hermione would have had me booted from Portkey.org if I posted there. On that site there can be not Student/Teacher relations. I have to be careful because Fanfiction.net does not like certain things posted here either.  
  
Thanks to: Arizosa, madabouterangelharrypotter, Maxx77, Illustrious Sorrow, Hele1, Bosson12787, Irish Rover, Ters, Zaraky, Anilia, Rob, and Jake Koontz for reviewing as well as all of those who are reading my story. Thank you.  
  
Next chapter may be out Saturday if not earlier. Tomorrow is college career day so I get to sleep late.  
  
Read/Review 


	13. Decisions

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Cowboy Bebop nor have I had anything to do with the production, creation, or the distribution of said products. I am but a humble fan that cannot help to curve his fantasies by creating a different story by which I have no intention or means to make any profit of.  
  
Notes: I am sorry that I am updating this today instead of the day that I said in my note. It seems as though I was not clear when I said that I did not want anyone to put a review on the note. For those who did put a review on the note I am sorry put the note has been deleted. That means that the review that you have left has been removed as well. Now I have lost 2 reviews that I did have before. I wish that nobody would do that but there is nothing that I can do about it. Here is the chapter.  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
Decisions  
  
The morning sun shown through the windows of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry illuminating shafts of light on the wall of the glorious establishment. Every person lay in bed asleep from the old and venerable headmaster to the young and naïve first year. Parvati Patil was the first female student in the sixth year to awaken. Stretching in a yawn she took in her surroundings. Parvati was always one to care more about her beauty and her looks than anything else so when she noticed her slightly disheveled reflection in the mirror on the wall she immediately rushed over to remedy the problem.  
  
After setting her appearance to look the absolute best while she still remained in her nightclothes she looked around at her sleeping companions. She always found it amusing when looking at their disheveled appearance when compared to her beauty. Each of them would wake after she had already fixed herself up so when they looked in the mirror they would obviously wonder to themselves: 'How does she do that?' Parvati barely even noticed that Hermione's bed was empty and looked as though it had not been slept in all night. After all that witch spent most of her time in the library looking through books and it was not all that far fetched that she had just fallen asleep while studying. It did not matter anyway as she knew herself that if anyone in this school could seduce their new defense against that dark arts teacher that it was Parvati herself. Nobody knew that she had a crush on the silver haired man and that was the way that it was going to be kept. 'After all,' Parvati thought to herself as she began to get dressed and apply her makeup, 'no one in the world is more beautiful than me.'  
  
What Parvati Patil did not realize was that Ginny Weasley had already woken up and came in search of Hermione. After checking the bedroom the young red head headed downstairs thinking that the bushy haired girl had just fallen asleep on the couch. Upon entering the common room however she laid this notion to rest. Ginny was not as daft as Parvati and she remembered all to well that the day before they had been forbidden to leave the common room. This morning was a different story however and they were allowed to leave. Looking around to make sure that nobody noticed her leave she made her way out of the portrait hole and walked toward the library thinking that it was more than likely that one of her best friends would be found there.  
  
Severus Snape just so happened to be on his way walking along the hall that led to the library if one were coming from the direction of the Gryffindor common room. He had arisen around the same time as Ginny and had roughly the same idea to check up on his friend. Vicious Bromista (a.k.a. Harry Potter) would face hell here really soon and Snape needed to know if he had come up with any ideas on what he was going to do when the time came to leave. The events of the day before played themselves over and over again in the dreams that he had that night. Each one of them was a different scenario and no matter what happened it always turned out for the worse. Severus was positive that there was just not going to be a chance. Then again he had to ponder how that man had run so fast. The greasy haired man could not help but think that he would not have even caught a glimpse of it if his great grandfather had not been a vampire. (A/N: Can vampires have kids? Nobody really knows for sure so I am going to say that they can. After all if vampires can have feelings and emotions then I say they can breed.)  
  
Not really paying attention to where he was going Severus Snape felt something bump against him and fall to the floor with a thud.  
  
"Ow!" Severus knew by the sound of the voice that it belonged to a young girl. Whoever this was they were going to get a hell of a lot of points taken off of their house whether it be Slytherin or not.  
  
Looking down at the floor he noticed the mop of red hair and the freckled face, "What are you doing roaming the halls so early Ms. Weasley?" he sneared at the girl that dare to interrupt him when he had somewhere important to be.  
  
"I.I.was going to the library to see if Hermione was there," the girl stuttered.  
  
Snape was about to ask what she would be doing in the library this early in the morning but then thought to himself that this was the bookworm Granger and it would be best not to make a fool of himself in front of the young weasel this morning, "Five points off of Gryffindor. If I see Ms. Granger then I will tell her that you were looking for her. You are lucky that I have to be somewhere right now or I would take off more points for being indecently dressed. Now go back to your dormitories and put on some clothes. After that I do not care if you go to the library or not."  
  
Ginny looked down at her attire when she heard the hated potions master mention her being indecently dressed. Her face flamed to a color that made her bright red hair look dull as she quickly excused herself and literally ran up to Gryffindor tower. She passed a primped up looking Parvati in the common room and could not help but be even more embarrassed about going out in her teddy bear pajamas.  
  
Vicious Bromista awoke to hear a knocking on his portrait door and the current debate between Athed and Snape. It seemed that Athed was dead set that the potions master could not get in and would not give a reason why. Sighing to himself and wrapping his arm tighter around the pillow beside him Vicious called out.  
  
"Just let him in." Athed scowled at him but followed the teacher's orders. The paintings and sculptures that guarded the rooms of a professor must follow the professor's commands. Still, Athed could not help but think that the silver haired man lying in bed was even dafter than he was given credit for. Severus Snape entered the chambers and began to look around for Harry, "In here."  
  
Upon walking into the bedroom the greasy haired potions master got the shock of his life. Usually he kept his cool in even the most horrendous of situations but ever since he started hanging around Vicious he was surprised nearly every day. No wonder all of the Gryffindor brats liked him. If only the Slytherin common room was this exciting then maybe the house would not have such a bad reputation.  
  
Harry noticed that when Severus had entered the room that he had stopped almost immediately and his mouth had dropped open while his eyes bugged out a little. For whatever reason this was it was far beyond the mind of the teenager. Opening his mouth he was about to speak until a low moan and a shifting beside him told him that he was not alone in bed. The feel of his naked flesh touching the flesh of someone else also spoke volumes as well.  
  
What the hell had he done last night? There was so much going on yesterday and last night that it took him a while to sort through all of the different memories. When he had finally reached the night he could not believe what he had done. What they had done together.  
  
Hermione was his best friend and he did not know how she would react to this. It was consensual and never once did she tell him no or to stop. How could he have done something like this? She did not even know who he truly was and she did not know what all he had lived through in this life. One thing that Harry did not want to do right now was to get attached to anyone with the war going on. Lives were laid on the line and if someone were to find out that they were connected then whoever it was could use her against him. Harry Potter believed that he loved her with all of his heart but during his life had never truly known what love was and had never really understood it. If love was meaning that you were willing to give your life for the other to live then he was in love for he would gladly trade his life if it meant saving hers. These thoughts were interrupted when Hermione began to stretch and sit up.  
  
The bushy haired witch woke and began to set up when suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her back down onto the bed while covering her up with the cover at the same time. It took her organized mind only seconds to realize that she was not in her dormitories where she should be. She opened her mouth to scream thinking that death eaters had captured her when she spotted the gob-smacked figure of the potions master standing at the foot of the bed. Now she noticed that she was not dressed and was not alone in bed as she felt the tingle of uncovered skin touching uncovered skin.  
  
Looking to the side she saw the silver hair and the green-eyed man that many of the female population speculated about. Thinking back to last night she could easily remember what had happened with the lust of their raging hormones. Would he think any differently about her now? Would he think that she was just some sort of a whore or a one-night stand? She did not want it to be a one-night stand. One thing that she knew was that she did not know the man very well. The glimpses that she had seen into his private life suggested that everything was entirely different from what the students thought about him. He was actually nice and caring when you got around the mask that he wore. She could not believe that she was not a virgin any more and that she was the first girl out of the sixth year to have lost hers. No matter what she thought about her mind kept popping back to one question that she should have asked last night before anything got started between them.  
  
"Are you married?"  
  
Vicious chuckled at this.  
  
"I do not see what is so funny. I want to know if you are married."  
  
"No I am not married. I just could not help but laugh because out of anything that I expected you to do it was not that. Maybe you would have smacked me across the face and called me a rogue but definitely not that."  
  
"What would I slap you across the face for?"  
  
"For what we did last night of course. I do not want you to think of me as taking advantage of you. One thing just sort of lead to another."  
  
Hermione nodded her head, "I agree."  
  
"I hate to interrupt this touching conversation," Severus Snape said while clearing his throat and turning around leaving the room. Before he closed the door he finished saying, "but I think that you both should get dressed."  
  
After the door closed the both got out of the bed and began to gather up their clothes from the oddest places. Hermione's knickers were being worn by Athena who had tried to shake them off only to get her head free and end up wearing the garment all night long. Harry found his boxers stuck to the ceiling. How the hell they got up there he would probably never find out. Five minutes later both of the rather embarrassed teens came out of the bedroom dressed and ready.  
  
"What did you two do last night? Wait! Do not answer that question as it does not take a rocked scientist to figure it out. You do know what the meaning of self control is don't you?"  
  
"Yes..," answered Hermione timidly as she looked at her feet as she shifted between them, "but we really did not mean to. One thing just lead to another and before we knew what we were doing we were waking up in the same bed together."  
  
Vicious nodded his head in agreement. Their hormones had just gotten the better of them and before they could control their actions they had been overrun by the feelings of their bodies.  
  
"That is all well and good but we have trouble now."  
  
"What do you mean?" questioned Vicious.  
  
"Young Ginny Weasley was on her way to the library to search for Ms. Granger several minutes ago. I was able to send her back to the common room because the girl had not changed out of her night clothes. It is only a matter of time before she returns to the library to try to find you so you had better run."  
  
Hermione was out of the door before the greasy black haired man finished his last sentence. She was in a dead set race toward the library to get there before Gin-Gin did. Only time would tell if she would make it and she would be damn lucky if nobody else found out about her nighttime rondevous.  
  
Vicious watched her leave out of the door and turned back to Severus when he noticed that the man was about to say something else.  
  
"I did not finish what I was about to say. There is not much time before the headmaster and everyone else discovers who the owner of the sunglasses is. Wear a hooded cloak to class if you have to but do not let anyone else see that you do not have yours anymore. Dumbledore mentioned late last night that it would be two to three days before they knew the owners name. Forensic wizards have not been making many advances in their field so we have that to be thinkful for. If there had been any magical spells used then they would have found you within the blink of an eye but since there are so many students here it is near impossible to differentiate anyway."  
  
Vicious sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and let out a relieved sigh.  
  
"However the fact still remains that you will have to run. I came here to find out if you had thought of any ideas for an escape plan only to find you in bed with a student who also happens to have been one of your best friends and the smartest witch in her year if not the school. This just complicates things further. You will have to leave her when the time comes and if there are any ties between you then she can be used against you. Do you understand what you have to do?"  
  
Vicious bore a sorrowfull look as he trepidly shook his head yes. There was no way around it. It would have to be done.  
  
Breakfast was full of rumors about what had happened the day before. One thing that all of the students noticed was the gaping hole in the middle of the floor and the looks of thought on the faces of the professors. Professor Bromista had reverted back to his even more dark and sinister look by wearing a hooded cloak to shield his face. Hannah Abbott swore that he must be getting closer to taking over the underworld any day now and killing Lucifer was the only thing that was stopping him.  
  
Hermione had sat in the library for five minutes while catching her breath waiting on Ginny. She had since enough to open the book and make it crinkled. That way it would look like she had just fallen asleep in the library the night before. When Professor Bromista walked into the room with Professor Snape she felt his eyes on him yet when she looked up she could not see them for the cloak that he had concealing his face.  
  
Later on that day she met up with Vicious after they had finished their tests in Potions. (A/N: I know that the dating in the story is all wrong for this so sue me. I just wanted the damn week to be over with!) Hermione had to say that it was most gruesome test that she had ever seen. If she had been like those other poor saps and did not know the chapters front to back then she would have failed. It came as a complete shock when she learned that they would have to make the hardest potion out of the chapters as well. Luckily she did not botch it up too bad but it was still a low blow. However she now understood his meaning for teaching the students this way. They hated him but it might save their lives to be so knowledgeable.  
  
"Come in!" Vicious called as he heard the knock on his office door. He knew who it was and he knew why she was here. It pained him to no end to do what needed to be done yet it must to protect both of their lives.  
  
"I was wanting to talk to you Vicious," spoke Hermione after she had closed the door and sat down opposite him in one of the chairs in front of the desk, "about what happened last night. I do not want it to be a one time thing. For some reason I feel as though I have known you for years and I think that I love you. Yet I know almost nothing about you. Do you have any family? What is your brother or your sister's name? You do not think of me as some sort of a tramp do you?"  
  
"No I do not think of you as some sort of a tramp. My family is dead and I am the only one that remains. I feel as though I have known you for years as well. I guess that you might say that I HAVE known you for years. That is what makes doing this so difficult. I love you Hermione Granger. I, Harry Potter, love you Hermione Granger and I do not want you to ever forget that."  
  
A spark of recognition went through her eyes as she started to get up and move toward him to hug him with all of her might. However, she was stopped short before she could get there.  
  
"Obliviate!" Hermione stopped dead in her tracks as her brain went limp and controllable to an extent.  
  
"You will not remember us being together last night. You were in the library all night studying and you fell asleep. You got into the library by sneaking in there when noone was looking. You will not remember my true name is Harry Potter and you will not make the connection between this. The only way for your true memories to return is if I tell you myself or if I have died or am dying. That is the only way."  
  
With that said he withdrew from her mind and started talking.  
  
"No I do not have your test graded yet. I know that you cannot wait until you get your score but you only took it this morning."  
  
Shaking her head to clear out the cobwebs Hermione answered, "I know but do you think that I made an acceptable grade."  
  
"Going over your current track record I would have to say yes."  
  
Hermione smiled, thanked him and left the room in search of Ginny. Harry slumped down in his chair looking straight off into space thinking about what he had just done. He loved her and he never wanted to hurt her. Yet that is what he just did.  
  
Athena let out a quivering note of song from her perch to raise his spirits. He gathered himself together and smiled at his phoenix. It had to be done and there was nothing that he could do about it now. Looking down at his desk he picked up the spare piece of parchment that lay before him. He was going to write down his escape plan to give to Severus but he decided against it. What caught his attention on the paper were the wet spots. Raising his hand to his face he realized that he had been crying as he wiped away the trails that the tears left.  
  
That afternoon at dinner it came as a surprise for the post delivery owls to be coming in the window this time. The Daily Prophet had been delivered that morning so what was their reason to be coming in now. It was not often that the propet would put out a special rushed edition.  
  
Upon opening the paper the people realized that this was exactly what this was. They could understand the reasoning behind it just by reading the headline and there were many intakes of breath for the headline read:  
  
Harry Potter: INNOCENT!  
  
HA,HA,HA,HA!! I did it again!  
  
(Ducks the thrown objects)  
  
Sorry for the delay but I do hope that you like the chapter. I just got out of class and a killer headache is setting in so I am going to make this short and sweet. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! There, I believe that covers it. Please don't hate me for what I did to Harry and Hermione. I have very good reasons that cannot be explained right now. Bear with me folks. I'll update as soon as I can. When I get home I have to install Windows 98 so I gotta go.  
  
If you review it chapters will come. 


	14. Wanted

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
I do not own the Harry Potter or the Cowboy Bebop series. I am a fan who likes to use their creative imagination by writing stories that involve characters from said series. No money will be made from these stories, as there will not be any profit whatsoever.  
  
Notes:  
  
The last four chapters of the Syndicate, for those of you who are not in my yahoo group and do not know, will all be posted at one time. An outline will be posted in the next chapter that will tell you the chapter layout (Titles). Maybe this will make up for my absence a little bit. I am sorry for the delay and in case you are wondering I do not have Windows on my computer at the house (Which means I can't connect to the internet (I have something called a Win Modem) or type my stories (school only has windows and thus it would be pointless as I could not switch it to the internet). This seriously puts a damper on my time to type or do anything on the internet since most of the time that I am at school I am in class or hanging around with my girlfriend. Plus the Internet on the college I attend is on the fritz since someone who obviously thought they knew everything thought that it would save them money to stretch out the Internet service to two other local colleges. Does this seem kind of stupid to you guys as well? If the internet did not work all that great before what could possibly make them think that spreading it out into more than one county would make it any better? Enough insane ramblings of a mad man on with the story.  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Wanted  
  
Most of the students of Hogwarts as well as the rest of the wizarding world could not believe what they had just read as the headline of a special edition of the daily prophet. The Minister of Magic of Great Britain Cornelius Fudge had been claiming that Harry Potter otherwise known as the Boy Who Lived was insane and had murdered Cedric Diggory during the third and final task of the tri-wizard tournament. Fudge even went so far as to put out a warrant for the apprehension of Harry Potter for questioning on the matter even though he had told the Daily Prophet many times that he believed the boy did it. If it had not been for Harry Potter being famous then he might have been sent to Azkaban without a trial. For months now the Prophet had been slandering Harry Potter with every ounce of power that they had yet now they were claiming that he was innocent? What the hell was going on?!  
  
Harry Potter: Innocent!!  
  
Earlier on this evening it came as no surprise to anyone that knows him that the Minister of Magic stopped off at the Leaky Cauldron on his way home from work to have a drink and relax after his taxing day. Usually he would order a simple and child favorite butter beer but today he decided that he was going to try something different. As one of the patrons there it was hard not to notice who he was when he broke out into a loud chorus of 'The Magical Way' by the Weird Sisters while stumbling around clutching a bottle of Ogden's Fire Whisky. It seems as though the Minister of Magic is not one to hold his liquor. After I and several other patrons sat down and asked him what the situation was with finding and capturing Harry Potter he was more than eager to tell us everything that he knew about the subject and what we learned was shocking to say the least.  
  
It seems as though there have been several minor attacks made by death eaters and what is even more startling is the fact that the aurors that were present to stop them saw he who must not be named in the lead. The reason why this has never became public knowledge is that those aurors who witnessed the attacks were sworn to secrecy under a threat by Fudge that if they 'did not keep their big mouths shut they would be put in Azkaban.' After the arrest of Mr. Lucious Malfoy the Minister was quite vocal in his claims that this was all a set up that had been staged by Harry Potter. Evidence points to the Malfoy family though and there has been no sign of Harry Potter since the summer before his fifth year.  
  
The discovery that the boy who lived was in fact innocent made me ask the minister one last question. Why did Minister Fudge want to face Mr. Potter with questioning after he had had so many different reports of what the golden boy had said to be the truth? It is the question that is on everybody's mind as they read this story. Cornelius replied that 'There would be no questioning. I would have him sent directly to Azkaban without a trial so that I would still have my political support. Burrrppp.'  
  
Mr.Potter, Harry Potter, the boy who lived: if you are out there somewhere reading this then we at the Daily Prophet offer our apologies and beg you to return to us. We are sorry and we need you. Perhaps if we had more people like mister Potter who were willing to follow what they believed in and did what was right no matter how great the opposition then we would be better off. In this time of need, I beg you to return.  
  
Tadd LeTell  
  
Special Correspondent  
  
Harry threw down the paper with disgust as the rest of the students, the teachers, and even the headmaster began to gossip with each other. They thought that just one single apology by someone that he had never even heard of before would make him comeback all smiles. No! People like them did not have the right to apologize whenever they themselves are the first ones to turn when the going gets tough. Some friends they are! To say that he did not give a rat's ass about the article though would be an out and out lie. Fudge was very highly likely to get booted from his job as the Minister of Magic and may even go before a jury for his actions against the country and the people that he was supposed to protect and serve. Plus it was an added bonus that now he was not a fugitive any more. However he would never forgive them. Never.  
  
Dumbledore immediately spoke to Minerva McGonagall who was sitting at his side.  
  
"We must call a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Attendance is mandatory. Everybody and I do mean everybody must be there including all of the Weasley children and Ms. Granger."  
  
"I will get on it right away Albus," the deputy headmistress spoke as she stood up in a rush and ran out of the great hall toward the headmaster's office. There were many people that she had to fire call and there was not much time.  
  
Dumbledore looked out over the gossiping teachers and students and realized that if he were to attempt to quite them down that he would be fighting a lost cause. The Weasley children as well as Hermione Granger were beaming with glee at the thought of maybe seeing their old friend again. Only one person in the room was not in a jolly mood and was not gossiping or intrigued in any way. Vicious Bromista, the newest addition to the Hogwarts staff, was scowling and clinching his fists in barely suppressed rage. Severus seemed to notice this as well when he turned to talk to the defense against the dark arts teacher. Putting a hand on his shoulder he whispered something to him and the silver haired man began to calm immediately. Albus Dumbledore had no idea what had just happened or why the young man seemed to be so pissed but he did not have time to think about this right now. Harry Potter was out there somewhere and he was in trouble. The venerable old man just hoped and prayed to any deity that the boy was alright and safe from harm. Hopefully if he was not already a prisoner he was far from Voldemort's reach.  
  
Nearly five minutes later Dumbledore had taken all that he could of the noise in the hall and stood up casting fireworks from the tip of his wand hoping to gain their attention. When this had no success he did what he had seen many muggles do with a microphone only instead he cast Sonorus on himself.  
  
"Quiet!!"  
  
Immediately the entire hall became silent. Taking the Sonorus charm off of himself he began speaking again.  
  
"Thank you. That seemed to be the only way to get everyone's attention as nothing else seemed to work. Now I know that everybody is worked up on the current news but I must ask you all to behave in an orderly fashion and return to your common rooms. I am sure that you are all tired after that test that you had today in Potions so I would like for you to go to your common rooms and stay there. That is everyone except for the Weasleys and Ms. Granger. Dismissed."  
  
Everyone stood, albeit a bit reluctantly and made their way back to their common rooms while the students that stayed behind made their way up to the staff table.  
  
"What did you want us to stay for?" Ron asked the headmaster as the three of them approached the old man.  
  
"I have decided to invite you to a meeting with a few friends of mine. You know the ones that I am talking about. We will be leaving in a short moment. Vicious I must ask you to patrol the grounds to see if you notice any students trying to sneak out of their common rooms."  
  
Vicious nodded while knowing that the true reason was that Dumbledore wanted a way to keep him busy so that he and his precious Order of the Phoenix could meet. Since all of the professors here at this school were members of the Order of the Phoenix except for himself they needed to keep him out of the way. It was obvious that they did not trust him enough to invite him along as well but then again he did not know if he would trust himself either if the roles were switched. They were not going to keep him away from that meeting tonight no matter how hard that they tried. After all a wise man once said that the walls have eyes and ears.  
  
Albus Dumbledore followed closely by three teenagers made their way to his office. Most of the Order of the Phoenix was already there. Mad Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well as the teachers and a few others made up this organization. It was very secretive and even though their numbers were few they were stronger than the majority of wizards and witches. Taking a seat the teens watched in awe as the meeting was brought to order.  
  
"Did any of you receive the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet?" Dumbledore asked to everyone present who nodded their heads in affirmative.  
  
"Then surely you must realize the reason for this meeting. For the past year Harry Potter has been absent from the wizarding world. I thought that maybe he had been apprehended by Voldemort and kept as a prisoner but now I am beginning to see the flaws to that idea."  
  
"What flaws?" Minerva asked.  
  
"For one there was no physical damage to Number 4 Privet Drive. Another thing is that there was no dark mark over the residence and it seemed as though his relatives abandoned him by moving away and not telling anybody."  
  
"Where could the poor boy be then?" Molly Weasley asked as tears streamed down her face. She was always the one to be the most emotional and that was either an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the situation.  
  
"I do not know but we must find him. It is imperative that we find him. You all know that the prophecy says that he is the only one that can defeat Voldemort and without him we are all doomed."  
  
Severus Snape had stayed quiet through all of this and had the traces of a smirk on his face. Anyone at the meeting that would have paid any attention to him would have just thought that this was some of the animosity that they held between them but in all actually it was taking a lot of strength to not fall out of his chair and onto the floor laughing. This whole school year Harry Potter had been right under their noses and nobody had even noticed. One would have to actually think about it to notice the similarities between them and even he had looked over it until he had discovered the truth. It would take a lot of talking a convincing to even try to make the boy wonder come back now though and Snape still thought that no matter what he would not return until everything was said and done.  
  
A moment of silence reigned from the end of Dumbledore's statement. The ones present who had not heard this before were shocked that one of their friends had such a weight and a duty on his shoulders. Laughter broke the silence though. Everyone looked around trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from yet they could not. Moody's magical eye was spinning in his head so fast that it looked to be going the speed of a muggle cd in a cd player.  
  
"I would like to thank you all for caring about me so much," a voice spoke as shadows began to rise from the floor and take the form of a small boy. However, he was still completely shadows and it looked like the boy was covered in tar even though one could see the unruly mop of hair that was on his head. Paranoid as ever Moody shot a spell at the shadow man only for the shadows to move out of the way before coming back together again.  
  
"Who and what are you?" Dumbledore asked with his wand pointed at the intruder. Then again everyone had either his or her wand pointed at the intruder.  
  
"You mean that you can not recognize me? Then again I cannot really show my face through this communication spell. I still thought that you would recognize me."  
  
Snape had watched the proceedings with shock. That dumb ass was stupid enough to actually come here? Still he was not stupid enough to give up his identity and he did make himself look shorter than he actually was.  
  
"Is that you Potter?" Severus spoke in a questioning whisper while everyone else present gasped.  
  
"I see that at least someone here has since enough to recognize who I am. I at least thought that the person would at least be a little bit less greasy but what the hell. Headmaster, you have really disappointed me with your lack of perception. I figured that you living for as long as you have would have made you examine things closer but I forgot about your mistake in Sirius by condemning him to Azkaban."  
  
"Mr. Potter! Do not speak to the headmaster that way!" Minerva chided the pride of Gryffindor.  
  
"I will speak to him any damn way that I want. In case you forgot I am no longer a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so I can say what the hell I want. The Daily Prophet had an interesting bit of information today did it not?"  
  
Everyone present was taken aback by the bluntness of Harry's words. He had always been one to conform to authority yet now he was rebelling against them.  
  
"Yes it did. When are you coming back?" Arabella posed.  
  
"Who said that I WAS coming back?" This seemed to stun everyone present even further.  
  
"Then why are you contacting us in the first place?" Arthur Weasley asked. He was used to rebellion by now. After all he did have four boys who had either been teenagers or were currently in that predicament.  
  
"I thought that it would be prudent to let everyone know that I was alright and that I do not want you to come looking for me. I will come back when I feel like it. See ya."  
  
With that said the shadow lowered to the floor and rushed out beneath of the door. The Order of the Phoenix was too shocked to be worried about the boy who lived or upset about his obvious disrespect of authority. Anyone there would have likely passed out if they took any notice of the smile on Snape's face. Potter had just slapped everyone there across the face and reminded them that his life was not theirs to lead. Being proud of someone else was something that Severus Snape never experienced before but he was proud of Harry.  
  
Breakfast that next morning was not an enjoyable occasion. The members of the Order of the Phoenix that were present still mulled over the actions of the Boy Who Lived. Professor Bromista did not attend breakfast that morning and nobody could understand it. In fact the only ones that noticed were the students, Severus Snape, and Albus Dumbledore.  
  
Albus Dumbledore was shocked during the meeting yesterday. He had spent so much time trying to help others including Harry that he forgot that they had their own lives to lead with their own decisions to make. Vicious had owled him earlier saying that he did not feel very well and that he was not going to attend breakfast. Dumbledore had wrote back suggesting that he should go see Madam Pomfrey but his note was left unanswered.  
  
'Something just does not seem to be right and I will figure it out. Did Vicious Bromista have anything to do with the disappearance of Harry Potter or the incident that happened last night in my office? Both of them have emerald green eyes. When Vicious stopped wearing those shades it was easy to see. In fact Bromista stopped wearing his shades the day that the body had been discovered in the hall. There were several pieces of glass around the body. Oh dear...'  
  
Sorry about the absence folks but they say that it makes the heart grow fonder. I actually get to post this one day earlier than what I said. School work has drug me down and to top it all off if everything goes according to plan I will be graduating next semester. Hooray. Now I get to move out on my own and pay rent, water bills, electricity, insurance, taxes, food costs, work all day for next to nothing... maybe growing up isn't such a good idea after all...  
  
To anyone out there who is not a grown up ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!! I heard the damn saying I don't know how many times growing up and now I realize it's the truth.  
  
The next chapter will be out sometime next week. I Promise.  
  
Read/Review 


	15. Leaving

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
I know that there is no excuse for the delay so I will not give one. December break for the college. The finals are over and I passed every single class with at least a B (hopefully...I think...). I apologize in advance for all of the different P.O.V.S in this chapter but the reason will be explained at the end.  
  
I am sorry that the chapter is not any longer but the next chapter will be.  
  
Chapter 15 - Leaving  
  
Harry Potter had to say that right now he felt like shit. Not just any type of shit, the type of shit that is really bad that makes you just want to kill yourself. Alas, destiny was known to be a bitch and right now she was barking mad and trying to break free of the chains that bound her so that she could get at the young man. However, Fate had a strong hold on the chains and would not let go. It was not his time. Still, young Harry did not feel like even moving.  
  
After sending that letter to Dumbledore this morning telling him that he felt under the weather he had collapsed onto the closest thing (the couch) and had not moved an inch since. Even though the loyal ice phoenix Athena had taken care of some of the pain she had still done all that she could. Her burning day was edging ever closer and she could do no more without causing her own death. For several weeks he would have to depend on himself. The pain was just a small bit beyond being bearable now and he was sure that it would go away with time.  
  
As I have said before, Destiny is a bitch. The heartless, evil rabid pitbull type of a cruel bitch. She liked messing with this boy by chewing him up and spitting him out. Yet, no matter how hard she tried he would just get back up and go again. In some ways she was actually a bit proud of the boy's determination but it still infuriated the dog to no end. He was like some piece of furniture that would just keep fixing even after being torn nearly to shreds. One day she knew that just like all the others who had came before that he too would go away and she would once again become bored for a hard time.  
  
Severus Snape had notice that look in the headmaster's eyes and his subtle checking of the seats. He knew that Albus had finally figured it out. It was sooner than they had thought but they should have expected more from the vanquisher of the Dark Lord Grindylwald. When the old man stood abruptly and left heading toward his office the potions master stood up and made his way out of the Great Hall was well.  
  
Rushing was one of the things that the greasy man was good at. Most thought that the reason that his robes billowed around him was because of some sort of a spell that he used. The real reason that his clothes looked that way was because he always kept a speed faster than the normal person. Because of this none of the students who were in the hallways between the Great Hall and the chambers of the defense professor noticed anything different. He still looked like an over grown bat but the truth was that if they had looked just a little bit closer they might have noticed that he was moving faster than he normally did. In fact he was almost running.  
  
The pain that was coursing through the body of the defense against the dark arts professor was slowly (very, very, VERY slowly) starting to subside when an out of breath potions master burst into his room. Looking at the expression on his face he knew why Athed had allowed him entrance without the password. The man looked like it was the end of the world. Something had gone wrong.  
  
"What is wrong?"  
  
"Dumbledore knows that you were there. He just went to his office to probably contact some aurors from the Ministry and then he will be on his way down here to get you. You have to leave right now."  
  
"What about the plans that we made?"  
  
"Fuck the plans! You have to get out of here now. There is no time to mess with their heads!"  
  
"In case you have not noticed I am in no condition to go anywhere. My magical power is just about out but I have enough energy to fulfill the most crucial part of the plan." Bromista started to get up off of the couch but he just collapsed back down after getting up three fourths of the way.  
  
"You are one crazy bastard. You are going to get yourself killed! Look at where your cockiness last night got you. I would be surprised if you could even stand up on your own. There is no way that you can get out of here is there?"  
  
With a grim smile Vicious replied, "I have enough energy to shimmer out of here but then most of the plan would go to hell. No, that cannot happen. Please shrink my stuff and leave it hidden in that secret passage that I told you about."  
  
Severus nodded and made his way around the room loading up the trunk. There were many different interesting things that he would have just loved to have spent longer looking at but he knew that there was no time. They were lucky that Dumbledore had not even came yet.  
  
"Hurry up and get out of here Snape! You can not get caught! If you do then everything has been for naught! Take all of it off of the walls so you can forget everything else and just get out of here!"  
  
Snapping the trunk closed and shrinking it he sprinted out of the room. Before he left though he dipped his head to Harry and said, "Good luck."  
  
Not ten minutes after he left Athed appeared in the back of the portrait.  
  
"Dumbledore is coming down the hall right now. I promise that I will say nothing about what has been going on in this room. Even though I respect the man and am bound by the magic of this school to tell him the truth I will not because I know that this is greater than him. Remember to do what must be done and all will come out for the better in the end."  
  
Vicious nodded to the noble Athed and motioned to Athena. She knew that he wanted her to leave. Spreading her wings she soared out of the window and far away before she regreted the choice that she had just made. It would not do for her to get caught and caged. She knew that her master could summon her once he was free again. IF he was free again. Turning her head to look behind her she pondered going back but she knew that he would be all right while she was gone.  
  
Dumbledore and the squad of Aurors along with professors Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape made their way toward the chambers of Vicious Bromista. This man had had them fooled for quite a while now. Albus could not help but admit to himself that he was slightly scared for the safety of his students. Something about the man during the interview that they had over the summer made the venerable man want to trust the newcomer completely beyond the benefit of the doubt. Now that he thought back on it he could not help but think that this was probably due to some sort of a combination between spells and potions. He would not make that mistake twice.  
  
Upon reaching the portrait of the bloody warrior Athed the stern face group demanded that it opened. Athed was not a dumb painting and knew not to reveal the friendship that existed between Harry Potter and Severus Snape. It was detrimental to the plan that Severus pretend to hate the man for turning his back on them.  
  
The portrait refused them entrance at first stating that the defense professor did not wish to be disturbed but when the headmaster had made it a direct order he knew that he could not go against the man. The magic of Hogwarts was too strong and while he could keep important secrets something as unimportant as opening the chamber was harder. Finally, the portrait swung open and the motley crew made their way into the chambers.  
  
What seen that they beheld when they walked in was the accused felon laying on the couch smelling of booze with an empy bottle laying next to him. There was no doubt in all of their minds except for one that he was three sheets to the wind.  
  
"So that is why you did not want to come to the great hall today? This has happened before has it not?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Vicious pretended to slowly open a bleary eye. It had been a last minute stroke of genius that he had come up with at the last minute. If he pretended that he was as drunk as a skunk then nobody would pay that close attention to him. Plus there was no way that they could use Veritaserum on him as it would not work well with the alcohol that was supposed to be in his system.  
  
"Do not talk so loud."  
  
Everyone there shook there head at this pitiful excuse for a man. Grabbing him they had to pull him up off of the couch and practically drag him all the way up to the headmaster's office. Students looked on and asked them questions yet none of them answered.  
  
Shortly before they made it to the gargoyle Vicious slowly began to gain his feet again. The Aurors loosened their grip on him as they were sure that he would not be going anywhere in the state that he was in. Harry knew that now was the time before he became trapped.  
  
Breaking free he dashed off down the hall and turned the corner before the stunned group could pull themselves together.  
  
"Get HIM!" One rambunctious auror yelled as the group raced after him. In the entrance hall they noticed him starting to run outside onto the grounds.  
  
"Stop!!" Snape yelled.  
  
The man turned around while still running backwards. All of the aurors present where amazed at the shift. They knew that he could not move half as fast as he was before but to turn around without stopping first was unheard of.  
  
Vicious began to mumble to himself and trace runes and figures into the air with his wand. They were approaching fast and he was glad that he was dodging their stunners. His spell ended in a sharp jerking motion straight down to point at one man while yelling, "Avias!"  
  
All of the group dodged to the side thinking that they were going to get hit. When they looked up the enigma known as Bromista had disappeared. Looking around to make sure that nobody was injured they saw something shocking.  
  
Severus Snape had been turned to stone. Pure white stone which only meant one thing. Severus Snape was dead.  
  
Now you know the reason why I have switched roles so many times. There was just a lot going on at Hogwarts. Now that Vicious has left (shimmering for those who want to know) we will follow him and leave all of the confusing P.O.V.S behind.  
  
Thank you to all of the reviewers and all of the fans that have joined my yahoo group.  
  
Read/Review 


	16. Fallen

The Syndicate  
  
By: Bolt Lightning  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter or the Cowboy Bebop series. I have played no part in the creation or the production of these series. No profit is made. Thank you.  
  
Notes: Merry Christmas!  
  
Chapter 16: Fallen  
  
After leaving the grounds of Hogwarts, Vicious was once again on his hidden island in the Pacific. Inside his house he collapsed on his couch and whistled for Athena who came as fast as her wings could carry her. Once settled onto the arm of the couch, the silver haired man reached up and began to scratch the top of her head just the way that she liked it.  
  
"I knew that you would come to me girl but I did not know that you would come so quickly. Everything went according to plan and nobody suspected a thing. Of course, I can not show my face anywhere in the wizarding world or I am liable to be caught in the blink of an eye."  
  
Athena sang a soothing note to let her master know that she would always be there for him no matter what. Hatred filled her master's heart when he thought of the betrayal of the one that he had trusted above all others, the one that had been a friend when he had abandoned all friends, and the one whom had trained him. There was no doubt in the bird's mind that he was planning to go after the bastard. He kept his emotions and motivations hidden very well from other people but that was not the case with his "familiar."  
  
The next day Vicious was once again on his feet. Yawning and stretching from the stiffness that came with sleeping on the couch, he made his way into the kitchen as his stomach rumbled from lack of food. Food was not the most important thing on his mind anyway yesterday as he had much more to worry about.  
  
After making and consuming a very nice breakfast (sausage, egg, and toast) he traveled over to Athena's perch. Gently stroking her plumage as she rubbed her head against his arm he began to talk.  
  
"Stay here girl. I have some things to do but I will be back here in a couple of days. There are some.... things...that I have to take care of. Most importantly of all I do not want you to come after me. NO MATTER WHAT. Do you understand?"  
  
Seconds later he had left and appeared outside of a hidden cave. Pushing away the vines that covered the entrance he made his way into the tunnel that lie behind. Luckily there were no large creatures that inhabited in the tunnel. At the most there were several rats but nothing altogether dangerous.  
  
Eventually, Harry came upon the end of the tunnel. Large amounts of rubble blocked the way and it looked as though there was no way to continue. However, if one was known to have enough power something as simple as several large rocks was not going to stand in his way.  
  
Carefully, he blasted the rocks that had caved in and prayed that nobody noticed the noise. When the dust began to settle the way to continue was left clear. Another well-placed spell on the fragile ceiling prevented the way to be obscured.  
  
With ease he made his way down the hall and picked up the trunk that he had went through all of this work for. Beyond the other side of the mirror and inside of the hall he heard several people wandering what that sound was. Not wanting to stick around for Albus Dumbledore he made his way back out of the cave and shimmered away leaving the professors of Hogwarts thoroughly stumped as to what they heard.  
  
Three days passed before Harry finally found the lead that he had been searching for. Nonstop, he had went to ever single one of his contacts as well as every single person that was in any way, shape, or form connected to Spike. Fear seemed to have settled over them as they had heard what Spike had done to the Syndicate and none of them wanted to anything to draw the psycho's wrath.  
  
Of course, this just pissed Vicious off and he proved to each and every one of them that they had better recognize that he was a bigger threat to them at the moment. After roughing up nearly ten of them he finally got the lead that he wanted.  
  
This lead was a message from none other than Spike.  
  
Brother,  
  
I have heard about what has happened at Hogwarts. You seemed so upset when you left. Do you realize that the people that you are working so hard to protect have turned on you? They call you a murderer and will lock you up and throw away the key without a trial. Come to me brother. Come to me. We can do so many things together and nobody would be able to stand up to us. We would have the world in the palms of our hands.  
  
However, I guess that what I said before is just wishful thinking. You will come to try to kill me. This I know. If that is the case, then I would be more than glad to reunite you with all of your family and friends.  
  
Meet me at the West Minster Abby church. You know where it is.  
  
Spike  
  
Vicious crumpled the paper up in his hands with fury written clearly on his face. He was as mad as hell. Spike had the gall to actually have them meet in the same church where they had had the funeral for Spike's dead fiancé. He had heard the stories of the lovely lady and now the sick bastard wanted to meet there. What had made him sicker than anything else was that the message the owl had delivered had not been written in ink. It was written in blood. Grabbing the sword out of his trunk and making sure that his hotel room could not be disturbed he shimmered away into the night.  
  
The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon when Vicious reappeared down the block from the church. He knew that he was walking into a trap but he would be damned if he would turn around and run. One thing that Harry valued more than all others was honor. It seemed as though Spike had lost what little honor he had a long time ago. Now all that was left was a shell of the man that he used to be. Harry saw it as his duty to put an end to the once proud man's miserable existence.  
  
Walking up the steps he could see the little kids running around and playing before they had to come in for the night. It would not be long now before they were safely tucked away in their beds. In some was he envied them and in some ways he pitied them. They were blissfully ignorant to the pain in the world and knew nothing of the war that was upon them. Yet the muggles would never know the joys of using magic and the wonders that came with it. He had seen more than they ever would.  
  
Making sure that the trench coat still hid his sword he made his way up the steps and even handed one of the kids their soccer ball when it bounced over to him. Continuing up the steps he opened the door to the church and made his way inside. It was dark as there were no church services and in all accounts the door should have been locked on the medieval looking brick building.  
  
"Where are you?" Vicious yelled into the church and the echo bounced off of the walls.  
  
"Ah, I see that you have come. I have been waiting for you." Spike spoke from his seat in front of the podium. Standing up to his full height the red cape that signified that he was the leader of the red dragons moved about his shoulders.  
  
"What the hell did they ever do to you? You know that their goal was to promote balance within the world and they were like a family to us."  
  
"They got in my way. They would not understand the intricacies that came with valuing power over everything else. Join me my brother and we will rule all."  
  
"I am not your brother. Now get ready to fight me you sick son of a bitch." Reaching into his coat he pulled out his sword and the afternoon sunlight gleaned off of the perfectly sculpted blade.  
  
"Fine, then so be it." Spike pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his one time student and friend.  
  
Bullets fired left and right from Spike's gun and Vicious did his best to dodge them all. One of them happened to lodge itself into his shoulder. At some point they had both made their way to the upstairs level of the church.  
  
Blood poured out of his shoulder and he knew that if he were at full strength he might have stood a chance but as it was he had not had enough time to fully recover. No matter what Spike did he had been like the older brother that he had never had.  
  
"Die! Die, die, die, die, DIE! HAHAHAHAHA!" Spike yelled and began to laugh his head off as he raised the gauntlet-covered arm and pointed it at Vicious. Harry was not expecting the blast that came from his old friend and was thus hit full force.  
  
The sheer power of the blast knocked him back through the window and his body began to fall to the ground among the shards of glass. Muggle cops and Wizard Ministry workers would be here soon and he could hear the sirens approaching as well as the pops that came with apperation. The young Aurors below gasped and watched as a tattered body fell through the air toward the ground only to disappear before impact. Later the only thing that they could remember to put into their reports was that the man had silver hair.  
  
Thanks to all of the readers and reviewers out there. You make this all worthwhile. Sorry that the chapter is a little late and I hope that you like it.  
  
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that jazz... 


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